Happy Halloween

Hobgoblins and ghouls are running around the neighborhood, ringing doorbells and extorting treats. Thankfully, no Obamas, McCains or Palins thus far.

It will be so good to get past next Tuesday. No more robocalls. No more campaign mailers. No more sensational hyperboles and electioneering. The phony season will have ceased.

In the meantime, we have to make our real decisions. Four more years of the Bush brand, or four years of That One. Most news publications have weighed in and made endorsements. One magazine, Esquire, has made their only endorsement, ever. Here it is:

The Daily Dish By Andrew Sullivan (October 31, 2008) - What's At Stake: The Rule Of Law

Indeed, the rule of law. A quaint concept and convenient tool for some. For all the talk of socialism and plumbers and bailouts and moose and change... it all pales compared to this. Who is going to enforce and follow the rule of law? Who will best honor and uphold the Constitution, after it has been so poorly served over these past eight years? My bet: the candidate who used to be a Constitutional Law Professor. Uphold and defend the Constitution. The rest is commentary, as they say.

Speaking of endorsements, the non-insane wing of conservative writers and pundits continue to honor the Democratic candidate. Here is another unlikely endorsement, from George Bush, Sr.'s speechwriter, and political columnist, Peggy Noonan (Thousand Points of Light... Read My Lips, No New Taxes, etc.). I'm including her piece as presented by the insipid Wonkette website. The snarky comments, once again, rule:

Wonkette: The D.C. Gossip » Blog Archive » Peggy Noonan Is Barack Obama’s #1 Fan

The stock market had another nice day, against all odds. For those who can stand it, here is Pulitzer-prize-winning columnist Steve Pearlstein explaining why the Bank Bailout is not working. He does a much better job than I did yesterday:

Steven Pearlstein - Hank Paulson's $125 Billion Mistake - washingtonpost.com

And because it is Halloween, we have a fine very short video depicting the recent takeover of Wall Street by a marauding gang of zombies. Symbolism like this couldn't be more poignant:

YouTube - Baptism of Blood- Wall Street Bull

Oh, the former humanity! Finally, the Quote of the Day:

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” -- Edgar Allan Poe

Bankers Think We Are Stupid (they might be right)

It was good news on the stock market today, even though the economy continues to skid downwards along a dangerous precipice. Part of that "good news" was carried by today's Washington Post front page. As mentioned in a previous post here of a couple weeks ago, participating banks in the Big Bailout are not required to use the money for anything in particular. They could use it to pay bonuses to overworked execs. They could use it for giving out dividends - hey!! That's what's happening:

White House Defends Handling of Financial Rescue Plan - washingtonpost.com

"The 33 banks signed up so far plan to pay shareholders about $7 billion this quarter... at the present pace, those dividends will consume 52 percent of the Treasury's investment over the initial three-year term."

While this sounds like a fine plan to keep bank shareholders and executives happy, it sounds like a terrible idea to use your tax money. This money was meant to enable capital-starved banks to start lending!! Of course, this would mean that such participating banks are capital-starved. For the most part, they are not; they are not lending because they don't trust their banking brethren. They are not money starved.

And if they truly are capital-starved, why are they using this money for paying out dividends?

So when Uncle Sam drops billions of unneeded money into their vaults, with no strings attached, what do you expect these folk to do? They are, after all, part of the crowd that created the mess we are in right now (both program planners and program beneficiaries). Dividends for everyone!! Laissez bon temps roulez!! Can I get an "Amen!" Can I get some bank shares?

Oh well. As we approach our election, let's give a listen to Wilco and their song, "Impossible Germany." Included in this clip is a small bit before and a longer bit afterwards of leader Jeff Tweedy waxing philosophic about the song and the songwriting process:

YouTube - Wilco - Impossible Germany

And now for our Quote of the Day:

"The government of my country snubs honest simplicity, but fondles artistic villainy, and I think I might have developed into a very capable pickpocket if I had remained in the public service a year or two" -- Mark Twain

One Week Until Damnation

We're on the big countdown now. Seven minutes to midnight. Seven nights until "The Messiah" Obama or "Get Off My Lawn" McCain get shoved into office.

Most publications and pundits seem sure that Obama and the Democrats will cross the finish line well ahead of the plodding old man and his elephant friends. Tom Bradley and I have other thoughts about that. If Obama is up and the race is within 5-6 polling points on Monday, look for a very, very long night on Tuesday, maybe well into Wednesday:

Should Obama Fear The "Bradley Effect"? : NPR

So what happens when McCain gets elected? Of course, lots of people will be shocked and stunned, creating a nation of Zombies. There will be class action lawsuits enacted against a multitude of state boards of election. There will be joyous exultation from the Christian Conservative wing of the Republican Party. Stock in EndTimes will soar. Moderate church-goers (and disbelievers) will pack pews praying for John McCain's good health. Clintonistas will become insufferable. Passport applications will crush.

A generation of young voters will become instantly jaded and fall away from the ramparts, never engaging in political exchange again. Non-white citizens will tell each other: "I told you so." If that is all that happens, we will be very lucky indeed.

And the airwaves and blogosphere will resonate with the hyper-insane prattle of the Right Wing-off-meds. Here is the greatest re-cap of this election season one can hope to read, from the perspective of our conservative brethren of the blogs:

http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2008/10/great-moments-in-election-year-blogging.html

Oh, that is just so good. Obama having sex with the unattractive disabled man has got to be my favorite. And really, the comments section is what really makes it!!

The Onion has a customarily excellent take on how the election will impact one of the economy's most dependable markets: anti-Bush merchandise:

Economists Warn Anti-Bush Merchandise Market Close To Collapse The Onion - America's Finest News Source

My favorite is the camping tent with the image of the Bush White House staff on the side...

And now for the Quote of the Day:

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for." -- Will Rogers

End of Week Hodgepodge

Deep stuff there...

No matter who wins this election, he will be swept into office on a sea of goodwill, by a citizenry grown weary of our current national embarrassment.

For those with a spare $10,000, might I suggest the following for a terrific holiday gift to a special someone:

Titanic with iceberg T8-136, Chinee Inflatables Inc.

Please do not send this to Alan Greenspan, Henry Paulson, Phil Gramm or the University of Chicago Department of Economics. And because it is Friday, may we offer the following examples of possible weekend behaviors to be embraced or avoided, as performed by the Woodspider:

MySpaceTV Videos: woodspider by JmeeButterfly(a.K.a Pu Ping)

You gotta love the Crack Woodspider. Then there is this grainy golden oldie from the genius Ray Davies/Kinks, "Dead End Street", a song about growing up impoverished in post-WW2 England:

YouTube - The Kinks - Dead End Street

That song and its video serves to remind just how long it took for Great Britain to get on its feet following The Great Depression and World War 2. Things didn't become anywhere close to prosperous there until the early 1960s!

And because we are in World Series and Halloween season, the Onion offers the following mash-up:

Sports The Onion - America's Finest News Source

And here's the Quote for the Day:

"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future." --

George Bernard Shaw

Democrats Can Be Dopes, Too

Often I have been labeled as a Liberal. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just that I don't believe I am. I'm not a Conservative, either. There are tenets from both sides with which I strongly agree and oppose.

And what I really oppose is the rancorous, vituperative, close-minded and uber-partisan rhetorical warfare that passes for political dialogue. Civil, it ain't.

Much of my previous postings dwell on Republicans. It's easy: their economic ideology is dying, their governing principles are steeped in failure and hypocrisy, and their brand of political campaigning is particularly harmful for constructively moving our nation forward. We've experienced eight years of epic incompetence and stubborn wrong direction in a multitude of crucial areas. Republicans have been responsible for most of our problems.

But all this doesn't make Democrats noble and right.

Consider John Murtha, long-time representative from southwestern Pennsylvania. Often tabbed as poster boy for corrupt, pork-barrel politicking. He must have taken some Truth Serum when he recently said that it would be difficult for Obama to win his district because there are so many racists there:

Opposing Murtha by Mark Hemingway on National Review Online

Then there is Christopher Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. He's received a preferential mortgage/loan from Countrywide Financial (no fees, no points). Because he's a good guy? Additionally, he receives millions in donations for his campaigns from banking interests. Should be a conflict of interest, compounded.

Sen. Chris Dodd took millions from now-failing finance firms he oversees Top of the Ticket Los Angeles Times

And how about Charlie Rangel, the Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee? He's admitted to errors and omissions on financial disclosure forms and is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. He's had problems with reporting a whole bunch of income on a rental home he owns, too.

Rangel to Stay On as Ways and Means Chairman - NYTimes.com

My point is that there are very few heroes in politics. Human nature is too vulnerable to the corrupt and stupid possibilities that politics and governance provides. What is important are the results - how politicians, political parties and government policies impact our lives and the health and welfare of our nation.

And here's the Quote of the Day:

"Son, always tell the truth. Then you'll never have to remember what you said the last time." -- Sam Rayburn, longtime Speaker of the House of Representatives

The Crazy Aunt in the Attic

The last two weeks of a closely contested presidential campaign usually feature the dregs of what our society has to offer. It's the two-minute warning, the pressurized time whereby sleazy political operatives get to heave barrels of sludge around with relative impunity, knowing that everything from here on out is going to be a blur and accountability gets shoved aside.

Sometimes, though, a piece of detritus will float to the surface of the maelstrom for all to see. We have a couple of examples. Michelle Bachmann, congresswoman from a country-club district in Minnesota, has been cruising to an automatic re-election. Then she opened her Big Mouth the other day on "Hardball". It's a wonderful seven minutes of talking-point posturing which suddenly and wildly veers into political insanity:

Michelle Bachmann's Id - Marc Ambinder

This is the same Representative who latched onto a startled President Bush after his last State of the Union address and wouldn't let go until she had left her saliva deep within his gullet. After "Hardball" her race has been regraded by political handicappers from Favored to Toss-Up. Throw-up would be a better description.

Then there is Representative Robin Hayes of North Carolina. He, too, has been infected by the Real America virus which seems to be affecting so many Republican candidates lately. Here is his money quote:

TPM Election Central Talking Points Memo GOP Rep. Caught Saying "Liberals Hate Real Americans," Fibbing About It

Needless to say, the sooner we get away from the Liberals Hate America/Conservatives Are Evil mantras, the sooner we can start to solve the immense problems facing us. Here is Uncle Zbigniew, who touches on this point, and a few others:

The Political Carnival: Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski On Powell Endorsement From Morning Joe

Now for some Real Madness from my new Favorite Live Band, the collective of East European gypsy punks known as Gogol Bordello!!

YouTube - "60 Revolutions" - Gogol Bordello

Very refreshing. And here is our Quote for the Day:

"[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she's just trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet -- we didn't need Nancy Pelosi to do that." -- Representative Michelle Bachmann

How The Mideast Sees America Today

It is no secret that the primary source of information in the Mideast is Al Jazeera. Governments are not trusted for objective presentation of facts. American media sources and American government "mouthpieces" such as Voice of America have even less credence among citizens from Morocco to Pakistan. We are not trusted, and neither are the states we support. For that matter, neither are the states we don't support.

But Al Jazeera most certainly is. And here is what the Greater Mideast is seeing regarding our presidential election:

YouTube - Misconceptions of Obama fuel Republican campaign - 13 Oct 08

No wonder they hate us... On the other hand, maybe with Powell's endorsement, Obama can cross our electoral threshold and calm the rest of the world's frazzled nerves regarding our special brand of world leadership.

On another note, an article appeared in today's Post which bears repeating for those who have a continuing interest in why our Economy is headed for the Dumper. It's all about the proper allocation of resources, as identified by the hallowed economist John Maynard Keynes (and noted in previous posts by Pete Peterson and Kevin Phillips and George Soros and Steve Pearlstein). Keynes would have been mortified by what is going on, but he wouldn't be too surprised:

We Forgot Everything Keynes Taught Us - washingtonpost.com

It's a good read and a reminder that Economic Theory needn't be obtuse.

And this leads us to our Quote of the Day:

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” -- John Maynard Keynes

The GOP's Face Of Evil

Oh, for goodness sake. Here is what the Virginia GOP has been circulating in the mail. If this doesn't speak of wild desperation and scorched earth values, nothing can give it voice. Daffy Duck: "It's Dethpicable!"

The obvious point is for suspicious voters to blend their remembered image of Barack Obama into an altered image of Osama bin Laden. Note that The Evil One (Osama, for those keeping score) has had his visage photoshopped so there is no longer beard, mustache or turban. Not even Arabic skin color. Instead... gosh... it looks like Obama!!

The TPM DOCUMENT COLLECTION - Virginia GOP Mailer: Look Evil In The Eye

The Virginia GOP is really pathetic to put garbage like this out there. This is the same group whose leader rallied the troops this weekend by telling them to remind voters that Obama and Osama "both have friends who bombed the Pentagon." This is the same state GOP whose standard bearer is losing the Senate race by 30 points!! They are truly a bunch of lost souls. It's no wonder Virginia is becoming an Obama Blue state.

On to the Economy and our diminishing returns... here is how it all plays out for the savvy investor:

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you have $49.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you have $33.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you have $0.00 today.
But . . . if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle.

And what better way to battle past the blues than to experience The Neville Brothers, live at the 1991 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival:

YouTube - NEVILLE BROTHERS - BIG CHIEF

The Quote of the Day:

"It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime." -- the late Lee Atwater, before handing the reins over to Karl Rove, who didn't learn.

Death Rays Kill Sox??

After watching the Tampa Bay Rays pummel the Boston Red Sox for the third straight game, I no longer feel so badly about how the Chicago White Sox could summon only one victory against this young team. You can change your socks, but you can't change the Sox, either color, apparently.

We pause for the presidential debate tonight before proceeding to the possible series clincher on Thursday evening. This brings to mind what one prominent White Sox fan had to say over the last couple of years:

In 2007, preceding the World Series, Barack Obama visited Boston. "Welcome to Red Sox nation," said Governor Deval Patrick. Referring to the upcoming World Series here, his own win in 2006 and perhaps to Obama's then lagging performance in the polls, he added, "Around here, we know how to come from behind and win."

"I am a White Sox fan," declared Obama, raising a mass groan.

"You don't want somebody who pretends to be a Red Sox fan to be president of the United States." Obama said he was a "principled" sports fan, a slap, perhaps, at chief rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, who switched allegiance from Chicago to New York teams when she started her run for the Senate.

This is the stuff that makes a true Leader. Here is what Obama has to say about Chicago baseball, a town dominated by Cub Cult of Media Personality:

"I'm not one of these fair weather fans,'' the junior senator from Illinois and presidential nominee of the Democratic Party explained. "You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball. Southside."

Before becoming an icon of drunken buffonery with the Chicago Cubs, Harry Caray was the exalted drunken fop for the Chicago White Sox. During the mid-Seventies, Harry was asked by maverick owner Bill Veeck to sing the Seventh Inning Stretch because, in Veeck's words, "Harry was the only person who was a worse singer than me." Here he is, in fine voice. Note the coats in May and September. And at 3:58 in, check out the Softball Uniforms that Veeck had his team wear for a couple of weeks.

YouTube - Harry Caray 1980

Finally, here is a really rich, really funny rivalry gone over the top between a couple of Cubs and White Sox fans:

Rosenblog Chicago Tribune Blog

The End of an Era

Here is an illuminating interview between Bill Moyers and George Soros on the US Economy, the Global Financial Structure, and where we as a society are headed. Soros, you may recall, is the Right Wing's favorite multi-billionaire punching bag. Red-heads remain enraged by his apostasy to the monied class. He supported John Kerry. He warned of the collapse of Free Markets. He says Global Warning is real. He is supporting Obama. He is foreign.

But he's also right. This appeared over the weekend. Soros has some success explaining the current dilemma. What interests more are his solutions and the dangers ahead:

The Big Picture George Soros on Markets (Bill Moyers)

On a related note, it is interesting that today's announced US Government equity purchase of elite banks (and more to come) have a big empty sack. There is no language indicating how the US Government infused capital $$ should be spent by the banks. Of course, it is presumed that banks will use the money to start lending to each other and thus free up the Great Credit Spigot for our frozen economy. But there isn't anything to require them to do so. They could give the money to their shareholders as dividends. Now wouldn't that be something?

Today, National Review gave the heave-ho to Bill Buckley's son, Christopher. Banished. His crime: he came out with a piece supporting Barack Obama. Another apostate!! Put him in the same boat with Soros! So much for intellectual engagement and discussion of different ideas:

Christopher Buckley Shown the Door at National Review - The Washington Note#comments#comments#comments#comments

Undebated singularity of thought produces unexamined sameness of thought. Here is what happens when an environment becomes over-run with sameness, literally:

YouTube - Harry and Paul - Clarkson Island

Oh, very funny.

Milton Friedman is really, really dead

Can there be any more doubt? Modern laissez-faire economics is dying before our eyes. American Capitalism has poisoned itself, and the Global Economy, too.

This is a mixed blessing. It means we all will be suffering for a long time. It also means that we won't have to listen to arrogant conservative blowhards spouting off about the Wisdom of the Market. The Market has proven to possess the wisdom of an adolescent male. It needs a Parent to make sure it does what it is supposed to do.

So let the word go forth: Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning, U. of Chicago guru and godfather of Free Market economics has died again. Once in 2006, and now in 2008. So has Trickle-Down Theory, Supply-Side Economics, Reaganomics, and whatever the hell both Bushes were trying to do. The economic ideology of the Republican party is officially bankrupt. Gone. Kaput. To the ashbin of history.

What replaces it will be fascinating to watch as it evolves over the next months and years...

And because it's Friday, another Black Friday (after a Black Thursday, Black Wednesday, etc etc) here is a classic piece of Laughter:

YouTube - Harpo Marx - Mirror scene (Duck Soup, 1933)

And the Quote of the Day:

"Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government." -- Milton Friedman

The Ownership Society Owns Us

Way back when, somewhere early on in the first W. term, our President launched a feel-good effort called "The Ownership Society". It was to be his big domestic legacy. His administration would promote home ownership among all Americans. Even those who had never been able to afford a home before! It seemed like a good idea on paper...

Regulating agencies saw their staff and budgets cut way back. Leniency was the word and a favorable wind blew from Washington to support the nifty but incomprehensible and intractable financial manipulations that promoted sub-prime mortgages, and their sales into securities, and these sales into other securities, and loans, and packages, and more etc. etc.

Of course, the chickens have come home to roost, and will live with us for quite some time. So pardon me while I pull a McCain and suspend my disbelief for a moment. We're all owners of everything now. We will own everyone's mortgages. We will own their insurance, too. Soon we will own the nation's banks. And your credit cards. Next will be everyone's automobiles. Further down the list: spring strawberries, cable TV, and mexican food. If we can finally own the Chicago White Sox, maybe it will be worthwhile...

An earlier post mentioned the mid-80's predictions of economist Pete Peterson. Yesterday, there appeared an article by the great sage Kevin Phillips. A fascinating guy, Phillips was responsible for Nixon's Southern Strategy. He wrote a book called "The Emerging Republican Majority" in 1969; it accurately foretold the red-blue state dynamic of today, and the Reagan Revolution.

Kevin Phillips (political commentator) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He's been bashing Bush and the modern Republican Party for a while now. Since 2002, he's said that W. is the worst thing that could happen to our nation. Right again. It's tough to be right so often. Anyway, like Pete Peterson, he's been warning us about the shift of our economy - from manufacturing to financial services and its Debt/Credit. Here is as succinct a rendering of our dilemma and its causes and consequences as any I've read:

Kevin Phillips: The Bungled Bailout (Or the Perils of Paulson)

The disease has metastasized. It spread throughout our national economy's corpus, and has been transmitted throughout the global economy corpus. And now the symptoms have manifested.


And now for some levity: here is a video taken in the parking lot of the Strongsville, Ohio campaign rally of McCain and Palin a couple of days ago. The auteur is clearly partisan and provocative and probably should have had his nose poked... but the footage yields some great moments of H.L. Mencken's "Booboisie":

YouTube - The McCain-Palin Mob

And the Quote of the Day:

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H. L. Mencken

The Nijinsky of Rock and Roll

To help take our minds off of the madness of everyday life, here is a brief tribute to Iggy Pop. Called The Idiot, The Motor City Madman, The Godfather of Punk, The Ig, The Stooge Supreme, and James Osterburg.

In his prime, Iggy's shows were the definition of animistic power and primitive grace. He was the starving tortured artist who was the true raging spirit of punk rock. The energy generated at his shows could light up the north side of Chicago for a weekend.

Today he picks up a paycheck every time "Lust for Life" is played on the Carnival Cruise Ship commercial. And now he's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He performs with Madonna and hangs out with other celebrities, all the while sticking his tongue out at all of us. Definitely one of the coolest 60-somethings alive.

Here is one of the funniest documents I've read - the contractual requirements for Iggy and the Stooges from 2006:

Lust For Laughs - October 4, 2006

And here is Iggy back in 1977 on the Dinah Shore Show, with David Bowie on keyboards and the Sales brothers (Soupy Sales' kids) on bass and drums:

YouTube - Iggy Pop David Bowie - Dinah Shore - "Sister Midnight"

And here's just a quick lil' snippet from some goofy Midnight Special-type of show in the Seventies:

YouTube - Iggy Pop - I wanna be your dog - 1979 - live

Iggy's shows were filled with such a wild sense of irrationality and even danger. To himself, mostly. Rolling around on the stage with broken shards of glass, rubbing peanut butter onto himself, chewing his microphone until his mouth was filled with bloody chiclets... you never knew what was going to happen. But he survived. And, I guess, we did, too.

The Quote of the Day:

"Nihilism is best done by professionals." -- Iggy Pop

Shirley Temple for Vice President

Robin Williams captured the spirit of the Presidential race by comparing Obama and McCain as "The Fresh Prince versus Fred Mertz."

So what does that make Biden and Palin? I'm unsure about Hairplug Joe... maybe an older Kevin Costner? But the Moose Maiden is channeling Shirley Temple. Gosh darn it, (wink), you betcha, darn tootin' and dadgum it! It is charming to a point, then the shtick descends into Irritation. Here is the original:

YouTube - You son of a gun

YouTube - Oh my goodness!

They don't make them like that anymore... oh, wait. I guess they do. If you ever wondered what Shirley was like as a grown-up, now you know.

Quote of the Day:

"You have two hemispheres in your brain - a left and a right side. The left side controls the right side of your body and right controls the left half. It's a fact. Therefore, left-handers are the only people in their right minds." -- Bill Lee, noted free spirit and baseball pitcher.

The Friends of Distinction

No one will mistake this 1970 song for an all-time classic. However, for me it has always epitomized the feeling of a cool summer night as autumn approaches. It's definitely fall now, but there was enough warmth today to get that feeling once again:

YouTube - Friends of Disctinction - Love or Let Me Be Lonely

Towards Irony-Free Government

A couple of weeks ago, I came across the following quote by financial historian Ron Chernow regarding the state of the government/politics/the economy:

"I fear the government has passed the point of no return. We have the irony of a free-market administration doing things that the most liberal Democratic administration would never have been doing in its wildest dreams. It’s pure crisis management. It’s the Treasury and the Federal Reserve lurching from crisis to crisis without a clear statement on how financial failures will be handled in the future. They’re afraid to articulate such a policy. The safety net they are spreading seems to widen every day with no end in sight."

Now we have a Senate-approved "bailout" package that will either save us from economic disaster, delay economic disaster, or do nothing to stave off economic disaster. It's the best patch-job available, I guess, for our faltering house of cards.

Let's look, shall we, at the two presidential candidates' positions on the economy:

McCain’s Economic Plan For Nation: 'Everyone Marry A Beer Heiress' The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Obama Promises To Stop America's Shitty Jobs From Going Overseas The Onion - America's Finest News Source

All right, so neither candidate has really stepped up on the economy and their position on the "bailout". That is smart politics, but not great leadership. Part of the problem is that both recognize the unspoken extent of the crisis and don't want go there.

This job calls for a man with nerves of steel and a very steady hand. Yes, I am talking about the greatest card artist in the world, Mr. Ricky Jay. Though this is a video, the effect of this trick is terrific. Sue and I saw it "live" at his show a couple of years ago and it is a stunner:

YouTube - Ricky Jay: 4 Queens 3 Ways

And now for the Quote of the Day:

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -- Groucho Marx

Gogh Gogh White Sox!!

The heart can hardly stand it. Three do-or-die games in a row. Three amazing victories in a row against three different teams. No other baseball club has done this to get into the playoffs. The White Sox will break your heart and teach you about Life. Sometimes, the Good Guys wear black. And now, for the first time in 102 years, the White Sox and Cubs are in the same playoffs.

It was Bill Veeck who once said, "If there is any justice in the world, to be a White Sox fan frees a man from any other form of penance."

And it was Jean Shepard who nailed it: "If I ever had to storm an enemy pillbox, the kind in the old Van Johnson movies, the kind where there's no return from this certain, sure-fire death mission, the Colonel would say: 'Shepard!! Get me 6 men from your platoon!!' And I'd pick 6 White Sox fans. Because White Sox fans have lived with certain death all of their lives and it holds no terror for them now."

Playoff begins Thursday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays.