You Know, I Almost Feel Sorry For Dubya

Almost, but not quite. When I got up off the floor from laughing at the video of the leader of the free world being assaulted by footwear, I read the AP article about the incident. I was shocked to read the following:

In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt.

Um, in what culture is throwing shoes at someone anything other than a sign of comtempt??? I mean, have you ever, anywhere in the world, been at what passes for a wedding and heard someone say:

Here comes the bride and groom. Let's celebrate their magical day by pelting them with shoes!

Or have you ever seen a proud couple bringing home their first-born and thought:

Damn, I wish I had some stiletto slingbacks to hurl at them to demonstrate the joy I must feel.

I could go on, but power under the bridge where we now live is limited, and we must preserve the lights to stave off the increasingly-aggressive rats who seek out our dwindling supplies of food ...

Here's a simpler TARP plan

So we're not actually using the $700 billion set aside for buying bad mortgages to buy bad mortgages? Interesting. What are we using it for? Whatever Hank Paulson wants to do with it.

This will make government budgeting so much easier. You just hand the money to appropriate secretary and let him spend it however he wants.

Anyway, I see they've appropriately name this the Tarp program. Because once these Bush clowns are through with us, they'll buy us all big blue tarps to set up as shelters in the homeless camps.

No bailouts for Main Street!

I have to say all this talk about letting the automakers go bankrupt is getting on my nerves.

We're hearing all the usual junk from the right about socialism, our tax dollars, overpaid workers, free-market principles and such things as the GOP seems to view this as a chance to regroup. Even Glenn Beck, who claims to be a populist and who shills for Chevy, is on the case.

But c'mon. Didn't this stuff about socialism go out the window when we voted to hand the banking industry $700 billion? Ditto for free market principles; the market capitalists of Wall Street wasted no time in coming to beg for our money. They gave it up.

As to the idea of blowing 'our tax dollars,' that cat's out of the bag, too. We're $10 trillion in debt as a nation; we're in the hole a trillion for just this year. Tack $25 billion on to the end, and no one alive today will be repaying it. (Hell, if GM can escape its debt by declaring bankruptcy, maybe the country should try it.)

The other thing they're doing is trying to make us hate auto workers, because they have good retirement plans, health care and can't be laid off easily. Hey folks; maybe instead of asking why they have this stuff, more people should ask why more of us don't.

See, what we're talking here is perhaps 3 million jobs. Maybe more; they say one in 10 american workers, all told, are supported by the auto industry. We're talking about shutting down a good part of what little industry America still has. If this goes, we're a nation that manufactures little more than the caps for tubes of toothpaste and the thong part of things (the soles come from Korea.)

Besides, think about it this way. We can pay $25 billion, demand concessions and try to save 3 million jobs. Or we can let Obama try to use the government to create 3 million high paying jobs to replace them. How much do you think that will cost?

Going, Going ...

Reading my colleague's post below, I am moved to ask the question:

What is this "Ford" thing I hear about occasionally?

Seriously, walking the dogs last night, I counted 20 vehicles parked on my street. One was a Saturn, one a Mercury Topaz (with a Power Forward Toyota license plate frame, so it had been traded in for a Toyota), and two were American pickups at least 20 years old.

So 80 percent of the cars were non-American.

Blaming the American auto industry's problems on union members and labor costs doesn't address the biggest problem any manufacturer can have - no one wants to buy the shit they're producing.

You, me and AIG

We've always known Americans are generous to a fault. But at least the bastards on Wall Street could ask.

This morning it was just Treasury chief Hank Paulson and Fed chief Ben Bernanke, the bailout boppsy twins, tearing up that $123 billion bailout for AIG and replacing it with a $150 billion plan. Sort of like buying a Ford Focus and the dealer handing you the keys to a BMW at the same price.

I think we the taxpayers get a little bigger piece of the insurance giant, which is throat-deep in bad paper from underwriting all the mortgage derivatives that are causing so much trouble. But at this point, no smart investor would want to own any piece of AIG.

After all, this crisis couldn't have happened without the good folks at AIG.

Why will $150 billion work when $123 billion wouldn't? Don't ask, because the twins are just guessing. There are endless trillions of derivatives in play, and most of them have ties to AIG.

When the bailout was approved, the hope certainly was that banks would realize the party was over and start behaving responsibly. They haven't -- witness the stories about bailout funds going for big bonuses and to lobby Congress. It's still business as usual.

I certainly expect the next administration to lay down the law to these clowns. But there's no telling how much more good money the twins will throw after bad by the time these Bush clowns get shown the door.

Followup

I asked my wife who she would have voted for, McCain or the Sleestak. She hestitated, and asked, "Who would McCain's running mate be?"

"The same as the ticket he had, Palin," I answered.

"Then I'd have had to go with the Sleestak," she said.

Post-Mortem

- On the day when a black man reaped the ultimate benefit of the nation extending constitutional to people of all races, blacks in the "liberal" state of California voted overwhelmingly to take away the constitutional rights of a different subculture. I understand the historical and socio-political context of the black vote on Prop. 8. It doesn't excuse the behavior. It is shameful, and should cause a thorough soul-searching in the hearts of black voters everywhere. The politics of hate and division still work, and they can work with anyone, anytime.

- Since we're talking about race ... much has been said about the election of Obama to the White House. But really, given the mood of the nation, and given how badly the Republicans had thoroughly and comprehensively fucked up our foreign policy, our economy, and given what McCain was offering (Palin? Come on! And a tax credit to purchase individual health care? If you're losing your house, that meant absolutely nothing at all!) one has to wonder how well an eight-foot-tall Sleestak from the Land of The Lost running against McCain would have done. Americans are scared right now, as scared as I can remember them being. I'd suggest that the election result was as much a vote against McCain (and Bush) as it was a vote for Obama.

UPDATE: As usual, the Onion says it more eloquently than I:


http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nation_finally_shitty_enough_to

- Speaking of Palin, did anyone note the body language on stage at McCain's concession speech? Here's how they lined up to wave once more before walking off the stage: Palin, her husband, McCain's wife, McCain. The candidate and his running mate were as far apart as possible, with two people in between. Speaks volumes.