BUSHED!

Stocking Stuffers: Singing Coal - Lame Duck Watch

Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson Jr.

The first time I heard of Hank Paulson, I was foggy mentally and could only think of Pat Paulsen, of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ... you know, the one who ran for president in his weekly time spot. (see photo left). As I continued to find out about him, I figured that we would have probably been better with Pat rather than Hank.

However, when I finally saw him in a news conference, I said.. OMG! It is Col. Klink!

With no offense to the fine actor who superbly portrayed the bumbling, clueless Nazi, remove the Nazi Uniform and the Nazi political mindset, and you have Paulson. He is clueless and in my opinion, is making our already unstable, failing economy worse. Flailing between ideas much like McCain did when he put his Presidential campaign on hold, his inability to communicate his intentions, or even the current problem to the American Public, this man needs to leave Washington via a mob ready with tar and feathers.

Rachel Maddow this evening on her MSNBC show called Hank Paulson Mr. Magoo. I can see where she is going with that.

I still think we would have been better with Pat Paulsen.

Disturbing thought.

Sleepy George W. speaks to Congress/Nation

A sleepy looking President came out at 7:35 am and spoke to the Nation this morning. As a one-person pep-rally, he urged congress to pass the bailout bill. He then turned on his heels and walked back to the Oval Office.

The neighbor's dog must have kept him up last night!





Wait... that was me..

Never mind.

A really large number?

Will the bailout work?

With Congress set to adjourn next week for the election season, time is short to work out the details of the plan and get it passed.

Congressional leaders, including many key Democrats, had already been considering such a rescue plan, and they indicated quick acceptance of the proposals.

On the sidelines, however, there is deep scepticism on both left and right - with conservative Republicans objecting to any more bail-outs, and many Democrats asking why we should help Wall Street rather than the four million people whose homes are being foreclosed, or repocessed.

And the presidential candidates, who are being left on the sidelines in the negotiations, are also reluctant participants in the process.

Both realise that a sizeable bail-out that commits the Federal government to significant new spending will severely limit their plans - either to cut taxes or to introduce a new health care plan - in the year after the election.

One model being talked about is the Reconstruction Finance Corporation introduced in the 1930s during the Depression. But it should be remembered that in 1933, President-elect Franklin Roosevelt refused to agree a bi-partisan deal with President Hoover to stave off the collapse of the entire US banking system, which shut down completely on the eve of his inauguration.

— Full BBC Story

No More of the Same

This latest ad from Obama is what we've been waiting to see.

Give 'em hell, Barry!

From Garrison Keillor

Opinion by our good friend from Lake Wobegon:

George Bush with big hair

Sept. 10, 2008 | So the Republicans have decided to run against themselves. The bums have tiptoed out the back door and circled around to the front and started yelling, "Throw the bums out!" They've been running Washington like a well-oiled machine to the point of inviting lobbyists into the back rooms to write the legislation, and now they are anti-establishment reformers dedicated to delivering us from themselves. And Mayor Giuliani is an advocate for small-town America. Bravo.

They are coming out for Small Efficient Government the very week that the feds are taking over Fannie and Freddie, those old cash cows, and in the course of a weekend 20 or 50 (or pick a number) billion go floating out the Treasury door. Hello? Do you see us out here? We are not fruit flies, we are voters, we can read and write, we didn't just fall off the coal truck.

It is a bold move on the Republicans' part -- forget about the past, it's only history, so write a new narrative and be who you want to be -- and if they succeed, I think I might declare myself a 24-year-old virgin named Lance and see what that might lead to. Paste a new face on my Facebook page, maybe become the Dauphin Louie the Thirty-Second, the rightful heir to the Throne of France, put on silk tights and pantaloons and a plumed hat and go on the sawdust circuit and sell souvenir hankies imprinted with the royal fleur-de-lis. They will cure neuralgia and gout and restore marital vigor.

— Full Article

Thanks TF for alerting me to this article.

US 'must target Pakistan havens'

With all the political news, one must turn to the Internet to find news from around the world. What a shame I had to go to the BBC to get this report:

The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff has called for a new strategy in Afghanistan to deny militants bases across the border in Pakistan.

Speaking on the eve of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Admiral Mike Mullen called for a military strategy that covered both sides of the border.

The US must work closely with Pakistan to "eliminate [the enemy's] safe havens", he told Congress.

But Pakistan insists it will not allow foreign forces onto its territory.

"There is no question of any agreement or understanding with the coalition forces whereby they are allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border," Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said.

However, the New York Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that President George Bush had approved orders in July to allow US Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without Pakistani approval.

"The situation in the tribal areas is not tolerable," an unnamed senior US official told the newspaper. "We have to be more assertive. Orders have been given."

A surge of US attacks in Pakistan's border region over the past week has prompted outrage from the government and army.

—Full BBC News Report