Bait And Switch

Remember way back when Congress passed the $700 billion bank bailout plan. It was sold to Congress as a way to help out poor banks who had been forced by greed into making bad loans. Treasury Secretary Paulson sold the package to Congress as a process by which the Feds would buy worthless mortgages from the banks, thus making the banks richer and more likely to make loans, and the only people hurt would be those worthless schmucks, the American taxpayers. This was put forth as the only thing that could save the world from a depression. At the time certain ninnies criticized the bill, saying it gave Paulson too much leeway on how to use the money. This was obviously foolish, since there was no doubt Paulson would use our money the way he said he would.

Paulson has now announced that the money won’t go to buy mortgages, the justification for the bill, it will instead go to buy stock in banks, which will presumably drive prices up and make the banks richer. In case you’re worried this will be a strain on the poor banks, Paulson has agreed that the government won’t use its ownership position to influence bank actions. Just because they take our money doesn’t mean we have a right to tell them what to do.

We taxpayers are the punching bag for our elected idiots.

NP: Elvis Costello, “I’m Not Angry”

Behind Us At Last

I found election night to be a bit anti-climactic, as most races went about the way they were predicted. Hopefully, we will get a respite from politics, but what are the chances. If anyone reading this is interested in Alabama politics, I would as always recommend they check out Doc's Political Parlor, which does a very good job of covering races without displaying bias, something I certainly can't do.


NP: Lucinda Williams, "It's A long Way To The Top"

Please Let it Be Almost Over

We are less than 24 hours away from the beginning of the 2012 presidential campaigns. I am hoping for a respite from the endless moronic analysis, but that’s a pipe dream. My favorite of the day was the guy on CBS watching Barack Obama vote and speculating (seriously) on who he might be voting for in the presidential race. According to this brainiac, there is a long-standing tradition (which I have never heard of) of voting for your opponent to reward him for a well-run race. Heh. I know nothing about politics, but I can tell you who Obama and McCain voted for.

The funny of the weekend (to me) was on CNN where they had a Democratic consultant and a Republican consultant predict the election. You’ll be shocked to know the Democrat picked Obama and the Republican picked McCain. But the humor was from the Republican, William Bennett. You may remember William Bennett for styling himself as the self-appointed guardian of American morality, an imaginary post that he had to vacate when it was revealed he had a serious gambling problem. Bennett predicted McCain with 273 electoral votes, and Obama with 268. No argument with the prediction, that’s what he’s paid for, but I would point out that this adds up to 541 electoral votes, instead of the actual 538. The math problem may illustrate why Bennett ran into trouble with blackjack.

NP: Warren Zevon, “Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)”

Monday Notes

Just some random jottings:

- Although the money hasn’t been distributed yet, the bailout plan has been cause for joy on Wall Street. “It’s about time the suckers taxpayers came through for us,” said Harvey Middledot, a leading Wall Street broker. “We have been reduced to lighting our cigars with 20s instead of 50s and 100s, and let me tell you, those premium Cubans just don’t taste the same lit with small bills.”
- Sitting in front of the Cracker Barrel waiting for my wife to finish purchasing high priced junk inside, I saw a guy wearing a T-shirt that read “We don’t need a monkey in the White House”, with a drawing of a chimp with Obama’s face swinging in front of the mentioned building. I was going to say something about a lack of class, but remembered my posting the “I Blew Three-Quarters of Van Halen by Sarah Palin” jpg, and realized I really didn’t have room to speak. I did think it was ironic that Cracker Barrel has a visible sign posted proclaiming they do not discriminate for race, gender, etc., after several lawsuits spanked them for doing just that. Although that’s probably why it was posted.
- Am I just the ultimate in cynical, or did those incidents last week where McCain supporters made derogatory remarks seem staged to allow McCain to appear courteous and above it all? Surely not, in American politics.

Embarassing

Hockey, you break my heart. The new NHL marketing campaign utilizes has-been rockers to promote the game, and results in this:




Oh, the humanity. That's Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott bringing on the stupid. Photo stolen from the best all-around hockey site, Puck Daddy.


NP: The Corn Sisters, "Too Many Pills"

We Aim To Offend

From www.thestranger.com:





NP: Randy Newman, "It's Money That Matters"

Sarah Palin

I’m not wasting a lot of time talking about any of the candidates for President/Vice President, because I’m not that thrilled with any of them. They’re all politicians, and if you put faith in them, they will disappoint you. I did run across an interesting article about Sarah Palin, which you can read here. It seems the “Barracuda” nickname is well deserved. Personally, my favorite thing about Palin is her nickname “Caribou Barbie”.

I also think the GOP is wrong to downplay her Pentacostal background. All politicians speak gibberish, but this would give her a good excuse.

NP: Robert Earl Keen, “Dreadful Selfish Crime”