Let’s see what the last few hours have brought us. John McCain ‘suspended’ his campaign to rush to DC to help cut a deal on the financial meltdown. A half-hour later, McCain has a sudden, uncontrollable need to buy a comb and leaves after the photo op.
Barrack Obama looks around, says little and hits his Blackberry to say: Get me tf outta here asap! His handlers comply (“The Candidate has to pick up his dry cleaning”) and Obama goes back to prep for the first Presidential debate that John McCain may or may not show up for.
Overnight, Washington Mutual Bank is seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and sold to JPMorgan for a buck a pound. The reason? Washington Mutual was so far upside down that they were smiling out their assholes like an inverted acrobat at the No-Underwear Circus.
For some reason, the FDIC, unlike the Treasury, can actually get things done to protect depositors under current legislation, without the need for Star Chamber powers and a Masters of the Universe secret decoder ring. Could it be that Banking Regulation is actually useful?
Which brings up a column by John Ibbotson of the Globe and Mail. Short form is this: McCain has a long record of voting for deregulation of the finance industry in keeping with the Dutch Regan mantra of ‘keeping the government off the back of business’.
Deregulation is exactly why the US financial industry is in the toilet. There has been no oversight, policing, or regulation to keep the greed-heads from doing massive derivative deals on obscure reactions to a reaction, turned upside down and then bet against, all based on insider knowledge, innuendo and rumours.
By the way, McCain is also in favour of deregulating the health care and insurance industry. Does that make you feel all warm and squishy inside?
To paraphrase Ibbotson, then it follows that even hardcore Republicans should recognize that McCain is at least partly responsible for this mess. McCain expressing concern and working the frown lines is at best disingenuous and at worst, as venal as could be defined in a family newspaper.
Since this blog isn’t a family newspaper, I can go there. McCain blaming the greedy bankers that he enabled and legislated for, is as bad as the kid who slaughters his family with an axe and then pleads for the mercy of the court because he is an orphan.
Which brings up Sarah Palin. Isn’t the job of the Vice-President to fill in for the President, especially if the Prez is called to Washington to help untangle a national emergency? Confronted with Palin’s inability to find her own ass with both hands and a snowmobile drive belt, McCain has ‘suspended’ campaigning instead of letting Sarah Palin show her leadership chops.
McCain and his people know that having Sarah Palin drive the bus would be the equivalent of letting a sugar and Ritalin soaked 8 year-old play with an M2 with a full belt, at recess. It almost makes me want to listen to Joe Biden.
Now what? First, nobody with a brain stem can vote for McCain and Palin unless they are high. Really high. Five-hits-off-the-bong in the parking lot of the polling place high, after an afternoon demolishing-a-case-of-beer high. Marion Berry high.
Second, even the Republicans recognize that their beloved President Jo Jo The Idiot Boy is trying to let Henry the FrankenFinancier take over everything at the expense of the rest of the country. Which is why the Republicans are the ones throwing the bailout into the ditch, where it belongs.
Interestingly, the photo op yesterday barely showed VP Shotgun Dick. In the few shots where he could be seen (and reflected light), it looked like the veins on his forehead were standing out like a starving dogs’ ribs.
Third, the McCain-Palin ticket is done. Take the Blackberry’s back to the rental kiosk and hit the FedEx/Kinko’s with the resume. Roll up the banners. It’s over.
The unstated danger is that Shotgun Dick is not happy. His meat puppet didn’t deliver the needed Fear on Main Street. His FrankenFinancier didn’t come through. His application of voltages to the genitals of the Republicans didn’t work either.
When Shotgun Dick isn’t happy, very bad things happen. The staff at the Undisclosed Location know that glower; the Cheney Death-Ray, which usually means there will be blood in the Jungle Room drains.
Watch closely. There will be an attempt at distraction.
RoadDave 