Oh What A ______ Morning

From CR this morning: The swell fun we've talked about here from time to time, or Why Greece Matters. You may not need coffee afterwards.

From Landon Thomas at the NY Times: In Greece, Some See a New Lehman:

Bond traders and officials at the European Central Bank have been unified in their warnings that a restructuring of Greece’s debt would set off an investor panic similar to the one that followed the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

... if they are forced to take a loss, and the ratings agencies declare Greece in default, investors [might] start selling in a panic. And they [might] not sell just the bonds of countries struggling with debt — Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy.
...
According to a recent report by Fitch, as of February, 44.3 percent of prime money market funds in the United States were invested in the short-term debt of European banks.
...
Citing recent data from the Bank for International Settlements, the blog points out that in the event of a Greek default, direct creditors would be on the hook for 70 percent of the losses, with credit default insurance picking up the rest. Thus, if one includes credit default exposure, American exposure to Greece increases from $7.3 billion to $41.4 billion [Emphasis added].

In a nutshell, it means that the international finance community has been playing with Credit Default Swaps around the Greek and Eurozone debt situation (Calculated Risk pointed readers to other information which clarifies why this matters).

Thomas', uh, "money quote" described the current situation as

... though banks and other investors have done much to pare their Greek holdings in the last year, if they are forced to take a loss, and the ratings agencies declare Greece in default, investors would start selling in a panic. And they would not sell just the bonds of countries struggling with debt — Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy. In a hasty retreat into cash, traders would unload more liquid assets as well, everything from high-grade corporate bonds to American and emerging market equities — as occurred in 2008 after Lehman failed.

The chance that Markets can plummet is always present in a complex structure of interrelated and interdependent finances and obligations -- but the likelihood that it will happen rises as major players in that system take on more risk... meaning, they get greedy, and sloppy, dealing with other people's money. And it's always been easier for that crowd to take risks with what isn't theirs.

Between 1998 and 2007, America created a gigantic time bomb in the form of a real-estate, credit-swap, Mortgage-Backed-Securities Ponzi scheme -- in addition to the suicidal idiocy of Lil' Boots' tax cuts and an utterly unnecessary invasion of Iraq; a mountain of hidden debt was created in those short, "Go-Go" Bush years. The 'Market', that weirdly half-mythical beast which lives in the basement of our consciousness, has been living in the shadow of that debt ever since.

One great truth about the 'financial crisis' (though that term doesn't seem adequate to describe it) is that the Trillions in debt that were created are still hiding on the balance sheets of banks and investment houses around the world -- and that governments and the global finance sector have been engaged in a desperate attempt to stave off A Reckoning, find some overall solution to resolve, "unwind" all that debt ever since.

However, it's not simple. Think of a series of interconnected sculptures made from rocks, precariously balanced on each other. The more complicated the system, the more opportunities for an "event": The situation with Greece could be the stone that slips, the electron that breaks free and trips the chain reaction that I feel analysts have been dreading since the Crash of 2008 -- and many had predicted this crisis, years in advance.

Perhaps now it's a little clearer why the Wealthy© have been grabbing all the money they can get their hands on, as quickly as possible... because if Greece's debt can't be dealt with -- and Portugal's, and Spain's, and Ireland's -- then it's possible that the Great Depression, and global political instability of the 1930's, will end up looking like a lawn party by comparison.

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Not What You Want To Think About, Either

Und Immer Noch Einmal:

Yes; I understand that we will have to vote for Obama, even if he isn't a particularly Progressive President and has caved to the Banksters and is doing squat to see that people who are unemployed (and the average length of time they have been is forty weeks) have jobs and, like so many Democrats in the Potomac Village have all the spine of the Great Hamster Of Alsace.

Obligatory Cute Small Animal Photo In Middle Of Blog Rant:
The Great Hamster Of Alsace (You Thought We Were Kidding)

Yes, I will walk into a voting booth in 2012 and mark my ballot for Mr. Obama, because, as always seems to be the case, it's that or face a wonderful life in the New Germany.

I do understand that even four years of someone like Sarah Palin or Grand TurtleBear Bachmann would outdo in ferocity and venom, in sheer Crazy, the nine years of Lil' Boots:

In a recent post about the Quitta from Wassila, Andrew Sullivan predicted how she would run against President Obama:

Pundits speak of her lack of professional organization. What they don’t speak of so often is her willingness to say and do things very few politicians will. She will play the race card powerfully, often and repeatedly. She will run a campaign against Obama as an un-American. She will run on hatred of elites, will turn every sad gaffe, lie or untruth into “truth”, she will deploy religious motifs more effectively than any Republican candidate in modern times. In the last campaign she accused Obama of being a friend of terrorists, and was prevented from using Jeremiah Wright in the last few weeks of the campaign. She will make the Willie Horton ad look like happytalk.

I think Sully is spot on with this observation when it comes to Palin, but the sad fact is that the same could be said about any of the Republican candidates climbing into the clown car. To “win” they will—each and everyone—say and do things that push them into moral twilight. Many have already taken the ferry across the Acheron and are working hard to secure real estate in one of the nine circles.

When the clown show is over and the [circus clown] car is emptied — one clown will be the Republican nominee and that clown will live down to Sully’s worst fears of a Palin campaign. Pushing white resentment and fear is the only path the GOP has to defeat President Obama and whichever clown emerges will embrace that Palin path. It will be ugly.

I think the best way to view the emerging 2012 Republican filed is to be amused and yet, terrified by the evolving spectacle. The very real possibility that any of these clown car occupants could actually win control of the White House in 2012 should frighten you enough to be ready to work like hell to defeat these fucksticks in 2012.

So: Vote Hopey-Changey, 2012. I don't have to like it, though. And there's always the chance that he'll be able to live up to the vision of a Progressive leader I hoped he would be. But, I'm only a Dog, and no one listens to me.

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Not What You Wanted To Hear

I know this isn't want you want to hear, but we're in a difficult spot as Americans, as citizens. And the difficulty is that none of the three political currents in our political structure are willing to do anything to realistically solve the multiple crises we're in on the domestic front.

To a great degree it is institutional: The culture inside Washington, D.C., the flux and wash of government, policy advocates, corporate lobbyists, the wealthy, and the media is insulated from life in America at large -- just as the wealthy are insulated from the life of, you know, "little people".

It's an incestuous Village, as the metaphor goes, where reality doesn't stand much of a chance, and the sounds of pigs grunting at the public trough drowns out the cries of hungry children and despairing unemployed workers.

The Tea Partei can be dealt with out of hand: They're an organization begun and bankrolled by wealthy conservative interests as a method of both forcing the old-line Republican party to take political stands further and further to the right, and of forcing the Left to spend money and time to fend them off.

While it's made the likes of President Boner and President Yertle The Turtle nervous, and made a mockery of the process of government in places like Wisconsin (vote-rigging, gagging Democratic members of their Legislature, and ignoring the State's judiciary, no?), the Tea Partei isn't taken seriously. Its leaders -- Little Glenn Beck; Little Sarah, Straight 'n Tall; Grand TurtleBear Bachmann -- are blowhards with personality issues.

The Republicans are the party of take money from everyone and give it to the upper 2% of the population, and to Wall Street banks and investment firms. They want to end Medicare, and privatize Social Security; that's all they've got (Oh, and they want to outlaw abortion and end the ban on prayer in public schools, just as a sop to the evangelical Right).

They believe in supply-side, trickle-down economics, and Will Not Raise A Dime Of New Taxes, Ever. They want to cut spending, 'The New Austerity', as a way to balance our budget and pay down the National Debt -- and it doesn't matter to them if Nobel prize-winning economists (and even those who don't have a Nobel) keep saying that to cut spending will result in nothing but higher unemployment and steadily worsening social conditions for the majority of the U.S. population. It doesn't matter to the Rethugs at all.

The GOP is the party of the Death Penalty and Racist dog-whistling and pandering to the basest instincts of human beings; they're corrupt and venal and should be shunned. But we knew that.

Then, you have the Democratic party, and its leader, our current President, who has found it challenging to meet the majority of his own campaign promises. In my estimation, he's become just another politician from Chicago -- a deal-maker who revvs up the Liberal-sounding language whenever an election beckons, and ignores the Progressives in his party when it isn't.

He believes that's the "smart" play -- but unfortunately, the situation we're in demands rapid, Progressive action. And neither he, or the Democratic leadership in Congress, appear capable of doing so.

My own take on the 2010 midterms was that for some Indpendents, a vote for some conservative Tea Parteigenossen wasn't a vote for new fascism; it was a vote that said I don't believe in the crap of either party. If Obama and his administration had led hard from the Left, made the kind of sweeping Progressive changes to repair the damage done by Lil' Boots -- if he had just led the country -- the Democrats might not have lost control of the House.

People in America know the real thing when they see it. They know Little Rupert's Fox is a waterfall of garbage and lies. People are desperately hungry for truth. They want someone to stand up and name things by their right names, and provide honest leadership. But that's not what the major parties want -- because their backers, the corporations and individuals with money, Left and Right, don't want the boat rocked. Real leadership is off the table.

So, Obama and the Democrats are just one more episode in the blinkered, incestuous action of The Village. Obama wants to be 'fair and balanced', I guess.

A prime example in my opinion (but I'm not alone) lies in the Democrats having thrown away the greatest opportunity to reshape the financial system -- which created the economic crisis we're still living with.

Instead of paying the Banksters free money, and refusing to prosecute the BSDs responsible for destroying the lives of millions of people, Herr Obama could have done precisely what was done with General Motors: Provide a loan -- not a bailout -- force the insolvent institutions into bankruptcy and restructuring.

Instead of forcing the American people to own the debt created by the likes of "Dick" Fuld and Little Lloyd Blankfein and Angelo Mozilo, Herr Obama and his administration would have put it on the shareholders -- where the risk belonged. But, he listened to Timmeh! Geithner, and Larry Summers, who told him this would be bad for the Markets. So they gave the Banksters all the free money they wanted.

And even later, when Paul Volker (aber natürlich), and Larry Summers (unbelievably) argued to do more by way of government stimulus to spur job creation, Obama listened to Little Timmeh. Work on lowering the deficit, he told people. Be good to the Markets. Be kind to America's financial sector.

And guess what? That's what happened. Volker was squeezed out of the President's council of financial advisors; Larry stepped down so he could buy a fifth chin. People like Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman weren't even invited to the table.

And President Obama decided to go with Little Timmeh, and the New Austerity in the Bowles-Simpson Plan, a recipe for higher unemployment. Changing Medicare is on the table! Privatizing Social Security is now on the table!

Where's the 'Hopey-Changey'? But, at least The Markets and The Banksters will remain happy. And Fat, too.

And now, with the National Debt limit up for renewal, the Rethugs are screeching for Austerity -- for preserving the Lil' Boots Tax Cuts For The Super-Rich, for forcing Americans to do with less while others do very well, thank you; they want the future to be shaped by the desires of the Koch Brothers, Ralph Reed, and Little Rupert Murdoch.

And, Herr Obama and many Democrats appear to be poised to bargain away programs and traditions which were hard-fought for... just to appease persons like Boner, McConnell, and President Sessions. There are other roads they could have taken in order to find a more equitable way to right our economy and move forward, but the one the Democrats appear to be walking down leads to more privation for most, and Good Times! for the favored few. As always.

I know that isn't what you wanted to hear, but stripped of all the rhetoric, this is what's happening in our domestic political world. I am completely, utterly disgusted, and I don't have a great deal of faith that the future won't be compromised away by the smiling face of whoever the Politician Of The Moment is.

Hope? Change? What was that about, anyway?

Oh; right -- it was a campaign slogan.

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Noch Einmal:

Josh Marshall at TPM notes that despite how bad things are in the real world, for real people, government will not act.

In addition, if there's any hope of keeping Obama, who is no Progressive, in power and not have him replaced with some Tea Partei crazy backed by Little Rupert's Lie Machine, then policy changes have to be instituted now in order to have enough effect on voter sentiment by the fall of 2012 -- this, an argument in favor of Obama doing something. Anything.

...the US economy, while improved from the near catastrophic state of the winter of 2008-09, remains mired in its deepest and most protracted period of joblessness since the Great Depression. And yet the national political debate has focused on more or less massive government retrenchment -- i.e., draining demand and jobs from the economy. By almost any economic standard this is craziness...

He follows with an extended excerpt from comments made by former FCC Commissioner Reed Hundt, who said

But for immediate purposes it would make sense for our policymakers to keep firm hold of the following truth: there's not enough demand for things -- goods and services -- in our economy. That's the reason there's not enough work for the people who want and need to work.

What the policymakers need to do is pretty simple... They need to identify the parts of every segment of the economy that ought to be replaced and repaired, and the new segments that ought to be created.

Read the entire thing here. Weep, if you feel the need.

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Sale Away

As reported by Andy Newbold at Media Matters, Glenny Beck, former astrologer to the Stars, has shaken his 8-Ball Of The Future once again, and seen the triangular fortune All signs point to you're in overtime bob up in the little window. On today's broadcast of his syndicated radio show (all he has, after being, uh, "let go" by Little Rupert), Beck spoke of himself in near-biblical terms:

On his radio show today, Beck told his audience that he doesn't know why he has "been given the gift, the blessing, or the curse of being able to see slightly over the horizon." He went on to say that this "is not something that I take lightly" but that he is "grateful" for this ability. As if it wasn't obvious enough that Beck was declaring himself a prophet, Beck listed examples of his visions that have come true.

"I don't tell you these things [Beck said] -- and I don't have to say this to you -- I don't tell you these things because I am going to make money. I don't tell you these things for any other reason other than I believe them with everything in me... And it is my responsibility, just like it is your responsibility when you know something, to say something."

I know a lot of things, for a Dog, but I have the sense not to bark about them all, because sometimes I am wrong. Humor, not necessarily in the best of taste, is my shtick.

I'm not a foreign policy wonk or a financial analyst (not here, anyway); I'm not a cultural critic or prognosticator of the future. I don't believe what I have to say is earth-shaking or even particularly special. I'm enjoying myself when I make Teh Funny, and I've succeeded when it makes the four or five people who read these things laugh. I'm only in it for the Entropy, folks.

Glenny, on the other hand, does think he has earth-shaking and very serious things to say. In fact, he appears to believe he's exactly what he's occasionally alluded to in nearly three years of appearances on Little Rupert's Fox -- divinely inspired, a clarion for the nation to lead them to a bright future. A golden future, you might say (heh). In short, A Prophet For Our Times.

And he's truly proven that he can see more clearly, and farther, than mortal man with unaided vision. Hasn't he? Newbold went on to list some of Glenny's prior predictions, all of which have so too come true:

• Beck floated August 22, 2006, as a possible date for Armageddon;
• America's "Weimar moment" is coming on November 3, 2009;
• Protests scheduled for February 26, 2011, may lead to global unrest;
• March 31, 2011, might be Day One of the new Islamic order in the United States;
• Beck predicted the perfect storm was arriving (eight separate times)
• Beck has said the "Archduke Ferdinand Moment" may be here (seven separate times)
• In October 2010, Beck said there was a "77 percent chance of a [stock market] crash within the next 30 days," the second time he had predicted such a crash within a couple of months.

Think about it: There are very few public crazies on the Left. Only on the Right do you find people who combine the faith of an Erich-Fromm-style True Believer with an amazing sensitivity to personal criticism, and the serious desperation of a Kirby door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman -- Coulter, Malkin; Mikey Wiener, Lard Boy; Bill Kristol, Davy Brooks; Krauthammer!; the list is long. When their worldview is seriously challenged, when their credentials as serious Wingnuts are put in question, they begin to melt down.

Sometimes, they have enough sense to muzzle their desire to spew Crazy all over everything -- but sometimes, they just can't help themselves, because the Crazy is integral to their shtick. As is the case with Beck.

So, with his departure from Fox looming, Glenny joins the crowd of conservative social critics scheming for just five more minutes on the stage of world recognition to prove to themselves (since that is what this is all about) that they are too relevant, before their careers head for the remainder sale bin along with the Elizabeth Gilbert self-help videos and selections from Oprah's book club.

Auf nicht Wiedersehen, already, Glenny; you nutter.

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Other People Better Than Me

They Get Way Better Traffic, Too

I just wanted to say that Fafblog was absolutely right. Period. That's all I wanted to say.

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Michele Bachmann Hears The Call Of Chtulu

Wingnut Sweetheart™ No. 2 Gets Closer To Declaring A Run For The Presidency

As reported by TPM, Representative Michele Bachmann (R - Delusional) went on public television in Iowa last week, and when asked about her Xtian faith, replied [Paragraphed For, Uh, Clarity, Of A Kind]:

Bachmann: Well, every decision that I make I pray about as does my husband and I can tell you, yes, I've had that calling and that tugging on my heart that this is the right thing to do and because it's such a momentous decision, not only for myself, my husband and our 28 children, it is a momentous decision what ideas will I bring to bear? What are the resources that I have to marshal in terms of people, assets, the message and also the finances, the amount of time this will take, what this will mean for the nation. Am I the right person for the job?

Every decision and every endeavor my husband and I have made we think it through, we're not rash people. We make a plan because we want to succeed, we don't want to fail and so we've been very deliberative in this process and that's why we're now coming to the culmination and next month, as I announced last night, I'll make that decision right here in Waterloo [Iowa] and the world will know.

Twenty-eight children? Well... you see, this is Teabagger logic, where numbers don't really mean anything; they're just numbers after all, and what counts is faith. And heart, and the spirit of America, and how you "feel" about things, and whether you believe in a particular vision of America through evangelical fundamentalist Xtian glasses -- if you're not an evangelical, that might be a difficult perspective to swallow.

Bachmann gets to "28 children" by taking the five children she has actually given birth to, and adding in 23 different foster children, who all lived in her home for some period of time over a span of many years but were not raised to adulthood by her and Mister Bachmann. But this is the kind of logic Michele has used throughout her political career -- a little half-truth, and a pinch of wishes, and plenty of illogical mean-spiritedness.

You need to understand that Grand TurtleBear Bachmann has done this "Call Of Chtulu" routine before: As TPM reports, "... in 2006, when she was a state senator running for an open U.S. House seat, she famously told a mega-church audience that she had communicated with God, receiving through fasting and prayer the command to run":

And in the midst of that calling, God then called me to run for the United States Congress. And I thought, what in the world would that be for? And my husband said "You need to do this." And I wasn't so sure. And we took three days, and we fasted and we prayed. And we said "Lord, is this what you want? Is this Your will?" And after -- along about the afternoon of day two -- He made that calling sure. And it's been now 22 months that I've been running for United States Congress. Who in their right mind would spend two years to run for a job that lasts for two years? You'd have to be absolutely a fool to do that. You are now looking at a fool for Christ. This is a fool for Christ.

Get the good Caramel popcorn before you watch how this plays out. Treat yourself. Only, watch carefully what kind of utterly insane, irrational and totally faith-based crazy falls out of her mouth, and how the Media (The Little Rupert Channel in particular) plays it. Will they show Michele for the Raving Loon © she is, or as part of an attempt to court a new audience of Xtian believers, will they treat her seriously?

Enjoy the popcorn, anyway.

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At Night They Dream

New GOP Frontrunner Staggers Away With Nomination

The Old Guys who have run the Right Wing in America for generations are worried. There is no viable candidate who can both energize the Republican base and be a pliable figurehead for corporate interests and the Owner class, as Lil' Boots was; and hell, they think; he was one of those people.

They're worried, because there is no one to explain in simple terms to the people of America -- as Saint Ronald The Dim could do so well -- why Medicare should be destroyed in order to save it. And why privatizing Social Security is the best way for seniors to live a comfortable and secure retirement, and to give a 'vote of confidence' to America's financial sector, and future Treasury Secretary Lloyd Blankfein.

At night, the Old Guys drink a couple of scotches and fall into an uneasy sleep, where they see Mitt Romney being the best they can do in a field of candidates. They see raging Teabaggers, taking over the GOP and destroying the grip of The Old Guys on America's unwashed Conservative voters.

They dream on; the skies darken, and winged flying monkeys stream past overhead. They see Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin marching up Pennsylvania Avenue at the head of a Teabag Army (in the dreams of some of the Old Guys -- shame on them -- Little Sarah and Grand TurtleBear Bachmann have no clothes on).

Little Sarah and Grand TurtleBear Bachmann mount the Capitol steps and demand the Republican Party become the party of Vengeance, and Business, and God; and Ron Paul stands beside them to sing The 'Star-Spangled Banner', but instead does a rendition of I Just Want To Be Your Everything, sounding just like Andy Gibbs.

Zombified Reagan's First Press Conference; The Press Kept

At A Careful Distance After Biting-The-Cameraman Incident

Then, suddenly, just when they seem defeated -- news reaches The Old Guys that The Miracle has happened. The announce it to the crowd; Little Sarah crouches and backs away, hissing; Mittens' hopes are dashed. And no one pays attention to Grand TurtleBear Bachmann or Mister Paul, or Susan Angle or Jeb Bush, or the Teabaggers and Teabaguettes, any more.

Because Ronald Rayguns has dragged himself up from the cold, cold ground, and returned with a burning determination to lead America. And consume the flesh of the living -- and The Old Guys in their dream are already thinking, This is doable. We can work around that. It's not a deal-breaker; my god, this is Reagan, after all.

Lard Boy, "intellectual engine" of America's Right, jumped on the Reagan 2012 bandwagon as quickly as a fifteen-year-old Caribbean street urchin.

The leftist blogs are all chattering this morning about the return of Ronald Reagan -- came back, as we knew he would -- and all of them saying, 'He's Dead!' or, 'He's been President twice already, it's a violation of something!' or, 'He attacked a news cameraman and tried to eat him!'

Well, Goodness gracious. Aren't they all worried and upset? (Laughs) I've done a little research, and don't think that top people aren't looking at this question already -- but I believe there's a precedent here: Why can't you be President again if you've already died? Why doesn't that just wipe the slate clean? And if you believe in the future of this country -- do you agree with me? Of course you do.

---

And, there is the hastily-arranged initial press conference:

REPORTER: Um -- I don't know how to address you, sir, since former President Reagan is deceased...
ZOMBIE REAGAN: Unnngh arrrrrooo.
GOP SPOKESMAN: President Reagan thanks all of you for coming today, and is comfortable simply being addressed as, 'Mr. Reagan'.
ZOMBIE REAGAN: Naaah.
REPORTER: Mr. Reagan, there's been a great deal of speculation over the past twelve hours since your appearance about whether you are in fact announcing your canidacy for the Republican nomination for President in 2012.
ZOMBIE REAGAN: Annngh -- na -- na -- ARRRRRRRRRRR!
GOP SPOKESMAN: President Reagan is very excited -- please; don't do that, sir -- put your hands on the podium. Hands on the podium. First podium, then eat; remember?
ZOMBIE REAGAN: Unh.
GOP SPOKESMAN: Good, sir, good. President Reagan is very gratified at the warmth with which he's been received since his return, and excited to be part of the political process in America. That said, he believes it's a little premature to make any announcements at this time.
ZOMBIE REAGAN: Mohnnung Ee Amurka. Arooo.
GOP SPOKESMAN: Morning in America again; yes, sir.

More later on this dream-saga of The American Right.

---

Little Sarah: Plain 'n Tall

Palinesque

In July, 2009, Little Sarah Palin, Plain 'n Tall, resigned as Governor of the State of Alaska, and I barked a bit about it -- and about politics, and how it really is local; the only thing which changes at the national level is the scale.

This weekend, Little Sarah has climbed into a bus, painted with a huge graphic that stresses "ONE NATION" -- and, 'Under God', too. She'll be driving down to Washington, D.C. over the Memorial Day weekend, to end up in the Capitol -- to coincide with the annual appearance of 'Rolling Thunder', a veterans-on-motorcycles organization, in celebration of what was once called Veteran's Day.

The MSM and Little Rupert's Fox is all a-Twitter: Will Sarah run for President? Will she, will she? Huh huh huh? Think of all the money to be made from such a spectacle. A two-hour infomercial movie about her has just been completed by a renowned right-wing filmmaker, to be released next month.

She's moving her nest down to Arizona -- much hotter than Alaska, but filled with Teabaggers and others with Basic American Values and guns. Just where you'd want to go if you were going to appear to base yourself for a political run. The Rethug regulars are batshit crazy insane alarmed very concerned that Palin will force the GOP further to the Right, down the Teabag Highway, taking more control of the party out of their hands.

Will it be Little Sarah's next moment in the sun, her chance to grab the brass ring and fulfill all that she believes god (somebody's god, anyway) has in store for her by returning America back to the 18th Century to greatness? Or, is this just a way to get the overwhelming fix of attention she craves, and ensure a steady stream of money for The Brand that is Little Sarah?

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Sarah Sings A Sad Song Of Leaving
July 3, 2009


Moose Lady says she's leaving to have more time to shoot guns.
Note UFO in background. (Screencapture: CNN /via TPM Media)

Sarah Palin -- last seen babbling to Katie Couric like an idiot on national television; having her ass kicked as the Absurd Nihilist Party's vice-presidential candidate of John McCain; then using a bad choice of joke by David Letterman as an excuse to look like a grandstanding, tiny-minded idiot, again -- is resigning as Governor of Alaska before the end of July.

A Palin 'loyalist' said to a reporter in Wasilla, AK, after the announcement, "She can be more of a help to Alaska from the outside now."

So what happened exactly? ... this clearly happened so quickly that Palin hasn't even had a chance to come up with a coherent cover story for her resignation. Some context is probably helpful here, however.

Remember that based on the public record, Palin is a wildly unethical public official, guilty at a minimum of numerous instances of abusing her authority as governor. And a lot of very damaging information has come out about her in the last few days -- though mainly embarrassing information about her character rather than new evidence of bad acts. I would not be surprised if this latest round of revelations shook something else loose that we haven't heard about yet.
(Josh Marshall, TPM)


For Little Sarah, America's godless rabble needs to be dominated.
(Photo: Carlos Barria - Reuters / via the News & Record)

When people throw the observation at you, "All politics is local", it's true -- but possibly not quite as that phrase seems on the surface. It isn't just that issues have to be perceived in a local context; it also means that national politics is just the local variety, writ large.

I grew up in a small town; there was a Mayor, and a City Council, and a local School Board, and a smattering of People With Opinions. However, none of them really mattered. The real Powers That Be were the large local landowners (most of whom had been in the area for generations), along with the President of the local bank; the owner of the local newspaper; longtime residents who owned local businesses -- people like that. All male, all generally voting Republican, all with property and roots.

They met at least once every week for lunch at a private club above the local bank at the intersection of the town's two main streets, and often enough on Fridays or Saturdays for the classic poker (and the occasional Blue Movie) night, with dinner and an unlicensed full bar. Anyone not a member who was asked to "drop by and play a few hands" might have thought they'd become Made Guys, but they were utterly wrong.

Mongo's Main Street, Back In The Day (Photo Courtesy Of Camera)

The Members wanted to take their measure, see if they could be 'useful' -- and then have them up the Club again, later, but this time to ask them to do something for the Members which would apparently put the Club in the guest's debt. And, the flattered Guest is thinking: I can use these wired-in guys to get somewhere; they think they're using me, but it's the other way around -- like people who accept the 'suggestions' of wired-in guys always do.

If we had been in Europe, the invitation would have come from the Earl Of Bottomfeed, the Graf von Hohendingen, or the Marquis du Fromage to come to the local Schloss or country estate for dinner, brandy and cigars. They might have a use for the Guest... but wanted to look them over first; make sure they're the "right sort".

When they get down to where the cheese binds, they might make a suggestion to someone in County civil service about who should be awarded a public works contract, and what the civil servant might expect in return -- not a bribe; just a friendly sharing of views. Or, asking them whether they'd ever thought about running for political office ("We all think you seem like a good guy"). And, donations for a campaign could certainly be found among the Members, and their friends...

Flattery and manipulation would be thick, in whatever measures it takes. And you don't want to flatly refuse people like that. Because the unspoken other side of the coin is that they can hurt you, as easily as help you ("...Well, we all have to live in this town; 'go along to get along', isn't that the old saying?").

When I was in High School, my father was asked by The Guys to run for office -- not for real, but strictly as a spoiler, to siphon off just enough votes from a candidate who didn't quite see things their way. The tactic worked; after that, my father believed he had a Marker with the local powers that be... even though he had a devil of a time cashing it in. And that's how politics works -- locally, or otherwise.


Little Sarah, using bloodsports as a 'Teaching Moment'
with a child who watched her shoot the moose. As an adult,
they'll spend 30% of their disposable income on therapy.

Sarah Palin ran for Governor, not because she was the most qualified, or had better ideas to benefit the people of Alaska; or because Jesus appeared to her in a vision when she was babbling in tongues. She ran because she was ambitious, and when she got an invitation to the Alaskan equivalent of That Club Over The Bank, I don't think they cared whether she believed extra-Human voices told her that she would become Governor. The Members only cared how badly she wanted it.

Palin, as so many before her, was probably thinking They think they're using me; but boy, I'm gonna use these guys -- god's gonna use 'em; yes, sir , boy... But The Members just smiled; by the end of a long conversation with her, if she looked like a fish that could run, they would know how deeply to set the hook.

Palin is a moderately corrupt, small-town politician, with the level of consciousness of a character out of Sinclair's Babbit. She doesn't seem to understand that it is an abuse of the power of her office to use it in exacting personal vengeance; or, that using her sudden elevation to Vice-Presidential candidate as an opportunity to buy six figures' worth of new clothing on the RNC's dime is a huge red flag regarding how she operates. Palin doesn't appear to know where her boundaries are, or to care when she crosses them.

Had McCain become President, I have absolutely no doubt: A situation would have occurred (for 'health reasons', or a result of something more serious) where Little Sarah, plain and tall, would have become the first Female, Evangelical, President of the United States. If you believe in god -- any god -- get down on your knees daily and thank them that she was sent back to Juneau last year.


Little Sarah, in her true form, appears on Rush's mandatory
radio show to announce she and a friend are running in 2012
(Photo: The irrepressible dvdbeaver.com, somewhat altered)

As Josh Marshall notes, the whole Affaire le resignation seemed hastily thrown together -- Palin spokespersons seem to be telling two different tales: One, Palin is "Out of politics for good", and Two, she wants to focus on a 2012 Presidential run. Even her own comments about her reasons for resigning seem, uh, weird. And not just garden-variety weird, but Monty Pythonesque weird.


Sarah enlists the help of Danish Irregular Forces to counter
threats to Alaska by godless Russians. (Photo: AP / TPM)

"Only dead fish go with the flow," she noted. "it may be tempting ... to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: 'Sit down and shut up', but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out." So -- Quitters stay in the office they to which they were elected... and Winners quit (Watch Palin's um, 'interesting' statement here).

Now, she may be considering an attempt to become the Presidential candidate of the Limbaugh-Christianist-Feed-Me-Seymour party. It's also possible that a scandal, with the odor of a salmon left in the backseat of a locked car on a hot day, is about to break -- and that she's timed her exit to avoid being filmed making a perp walk out of the Alaskan State House. We'll see.

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Look, I Don't Make This Stuff Up

Trolling For Submerged Vehicles

Obligatory Small Animal Photo At Beginning Of New Blog Thing

Sniffing around the Intertubes, I found this.

“When is Ben coming home?” Edmund said.

“They told their dog they’d be back in a week,” the muddy boy said. “So… four more days, then. Their dog hates boats, which means anytime they leave on a sailing vacation their dog has to live outside and kill his own food and put up with me doing whatever I want to it.”

“Do you know which song unlocks the trapdoor in Ben’s cottage?” Edmund said.

As the muddy boy handed Edmund the carton of milk, Edmund saw that on the boy’s wrist someone had lettered, in mud, the letters M O N G O.

“I don’t know anything about songs,” the muddy boy said as he peeked into his bag.

Edmund gestured at the muddy boy’s wrist. “Did Mongo write that on you?”

“Yes.”

“You know Mongo?”

“I am Mongo. Who told you I wasn’t Mongo?”

“Nobody,” Edmund said. “But if you’re Mongo, I’m supposed to tell you something.”

“Then tell it.”

My original suspicion was that James Joyce had been reborn and has been using my name. However, it's part of a serial post-modern Intertubes novel entitled The Numberless, created by Ts’ui Pên, a Chinese writer now living in Italy (and thereupon, I am convinced, hangs a really good tale), translated by Some Guy at Vanderbilt University and published by Potboiler Press.

But, I'm only a Dog, and no one listens to me -- though I do happen to like boats, so long as I'm not actually on them. And, I don't live "outside", and don't kill my own food. I go to a restaurant, like anyone else; even if I have to use a child seat and have difficulty with the silverware.

There. Now you know everything. Except about Heino.

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It's Official

"Lil' Boots" Bush's Legacy
To The Present Future Generations

Via Talking Points Memo:

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has updated and refined a widely cited chart, laying out the origins of the country's current fiscal trajectory. And as before, the lion's share of the problem comes from ongoing George W. Bush-era policies -- particularly deficit-financed tax cuts, which eliminated Clinton-era surpluses and left the Treasury poised for a huge hit when the financial crisis and economic downturn further eroded federal revenues.

Ezra Klein also discussed the CBPP findings in his column at Bloomberg.

In other words, cut the financial crisis and the major initiatives from the Bush-era out of the picture, and we’d be in pretty good shape. In fact, we’d be in great shape. “Without the economic downturn and the fiscal policies of the previous Administration, the budget would be roughly in balance over the next decade. That would have put the nation on a much sounder footing to address the demographic challenges and the cost pressures in health care that darken the long-run fiscal outlook.”

The CBPP column from their website, with more detailed analysis and data, can be found here.

And what about Lil' Boots? Is he sorry for his "Mission Accomplished"?

When his tenure ended, it seemed that former President George Bush could not wait to leave office. A perfectly understandable sentiment seeing as his approval rating had dropped significantly during his second term in office. Receiving harsh criticism from both sides of the aisle and from the general public due to errors in judgment he made during his tenure... the former Governor of Texas moved back home to Dallas and refused to grant interviews or speak to anyone during the two years since his departure.

However, recently, George Bush broke the silence with the release of his memoir 'Decision Points'. The book was acquired by The Crown Publishing Group for $7 million and was released to the public November 9, 2010... and brewed a bit of controversy over claims of plagiarism.

This Peevish Dullard has been a failure at everything he attempted in life -- failed in business, twice (and bailed out by his father); failed at being a Governor; produced two neurotic and semi-pro alcoholic fun-loving daughters; utterly failed as President after being appointed to the job by the Supremes in 2000; and finally, failed to perform a convincing whitewash retelling of the exciting, "Go-Go" Lil' Boots years in his exciting official memoirs.

And there are all those dead Iraqis. But, like some character out of the film, Old School, he helped trash the Frat House that is America, and has driven off the next day ("Ya ran outta blow an' hoors? Ah'm outta here! YAAAH-hoo! Better 'n Mah Dadeeee!!!"). Rich and therefore blameless, tasteless and arrogant, he's left the Little People to deal with the damage.

But, look at who we're taking about. Then ask yourself just how surprised you actually are.

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Noch Einmal:

Bill Maher, May 7, 2011:

When Bill Clinton left office in 2001, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that by the end of the decade, we would have paid off the entire debt, and have a $2 trillion dollar surplus.  

Instead, we have a $14.5 trillion dollar public debt, and the difference in those two numbers is mostly because the Republicans put tax cuts for the rich, free drugs for the elderly, and two wars on the layaway plan, and then bailed on the check. So much for fiscal responsibility.

But hey, at least they still had the defense thing, right?  The public still believed Republicans were tougher when it came to hunting down dark-skinned foreigners with funny-sounding names.  But Bush had seven years to get Osama. He didn't.  He got Wesley Snipes.  

Only 6 months after 9/11, Bush said he didn't spend that much time on bin Laden, adding that he was no longer concerned about him, just as he wasn't before 9/11, when he blew off that mysterious, inscrutable memo entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the U.S."  In under a year, Bush went from "Who gives a shit?" to "Wanted: Dead or Alive" and back to "Who gives a shit?"  

Why focus on the terrorist who reduced Wall Street to rubble, when you can help Wall Street reduce the whole country to rubble?

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