William F. Buckley's son leaves National Review after endorsing Obama

From Christopher Buckley:

I have been effectively fatwahed (is that how you spell it?) by the conservative movement, and the magazine that my father founded must now distance itself from me. But then, conservatives have always had a bit of trouble with the concept of diversity. The GOP likes to say it’s a big-tent. Looks more like a yurt to me.

While I regret this development, I am not in mourning, for I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for. Eight years of “conservative” government has brought us a doubled national debt, ruinous expansion of entitlement programs, bridges to nowhere, poster boy Jack Abramoff and an ill-premised, ill-waged war conducted by politicians of breathtaking arrogance. As a sideshow, it brought us a truly obscene attempt at federal intervention in the Terry Schiavo case.
So, to paraphrase a real conservative, Ronald Reagan: I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.

Here is Buckley's endorsement of Obama. Read More......

Army blocks soldier from bringing puppy back

From AP:

More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition urging the Army to let an Iraqi puppy come home with a Minnesota soldier, who fears that "Ratchet" could be killed if left behind.

"I just want my puppy home," Sgt. Gwen Beberg of Minneapolis wrote to her mother in an e-mail Sunday from Iraq, soon after she was separated from the dog following a transfer. "I miss my dog horribly." Beberg, 28, is scheduled to return to the U.S. next month.

I'm not real thrilled with the petition,I don't trust things that require me to give an email and home address, but if anyone cares to go for it, here it is. Read More......

Olbermann: McCain is "a fraud" and "tacitly inciting lunatics to violence"

This is a good one. Full transcript here and following the video below.



Olbermann: McCain, suspend your campaign
The GOP ticket is inciting supporters to violence against Barack Obama
SPECIAL COMMENT
By Keith Olbermann
Anchor, 'Countdown'
Oct. 14, 2008

1:25 PM Eastern Time, today, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. During the warm-up act by a Red Meat Congressional Candidate aptly named Chris Hackett, Hackett mentions Obama and a Palin audience member shouts “Kill Him.”

And Gov. Palin, as usual, does nothing about it says nothing to these thugs and psychos. She may not have heard this one. It is impossible to believe that by now she has not heard about the other ones. Her silence is deafening. Just as, Sen. McCain, you have done nothing when violence has been asserted. Correction. You have done one thing.

Asked why in real time you do not repudiate this hatefulness you act as if you are the victim. Speaking today to our NBC Station in Washington.

McCain: “Sure and I repudiated it as I have on several occasions. Unfortunately, Congressman John Lewis is an American hero who I admire who made the worst, most unacceptable statement a couple days ago that I have ever heard. He accused me and Sarah Palin of being involved in segregation, George Wallace and even made reference to a church bombing where children were killed. Senator Obama has not repudiated that statement. Senator Obama should do so immediately. Its the most outrageous thing that I have heard since in politics…it is disgraceful.”

Disgraceful?

Obviously, Senator, you haven’t heard your own speeches, and Gov. Palin’s, and what people shout during them. And you haven’t heard your state GOP Chair in Virginia, Jeffrey Frederick, giving talking points to 30 of your field-operatives heading out to canvass voters in Gainesville, Virginia. With a reporter present, telling them to try to forge a connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden to emphasize bombings and terrorism. And you haven’t heard those volunteers, your volunteers Sen. McCain, shout back “and he won’t salute the flag” and “we don’t even know where Sen. Obama was really born.”

Sen. McCain, these people are speaking for you! And how dare you try to claim Congressman Lewis was linking you to Gov. George Wallace’s segregation. He was linking you, aptly, to Gov. George Wallace’s lynch-mob mentality.

“As public figures with the power to influence and persuade,” said Congressman Lewis, “Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all.”

Sen. McCain, your supporters, at your events, are calling Obama a terrorist and traitor and are calling for him to be killed. And yet you keep bringing back these same rabid Right Wing nuts to deliberately stir these crowds into frenzies. And then you take offense when somebody who remembers the violence in our political past, calls you on it. You, sir, are responsible for a phalanx of individuals who are shouting fire in a crowded theatre. There are some things to respect and honor about you, Sen. McCain.

But on this, you’re not only a fraud, Senator but you are tacitly inciting lunatics to violence. If you want to again grand-stand and suspend your campaign here’s your big chance. Suspend your campaign now, until you, or somebody else, gets some control over it and it ceases to be a clear and present danger to the peace of this nation. Read More......

CNN does huge segment on the Alaskan Independence Party

You remember them? They're the folks who had ties with Iran and used to damn our flag and hate our country, they also want to secede from America. Todd Palin, Sarah's husband, was a member for seven years. And this year Sarah sent a greeting to their convention, talking about how she shared their values. Watch CNN's broadcast and learn exactly what kind of people John McCain chose to join him in the White House, then read this investigative piece, if you dare:

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David Gregory: Meet Pollster.com and FiveThirtyEight.com

In a set up to an interview with Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Richard Burr (R-NC), MSNBC's painful David Gregory gave an "update" on polling in those two states:



Notice the dates of those polls?

The Virginia poll is two weeks old. According to Pollster.com, there have been five other more recent polls in Virginia since the one Gregory chose to highlight. But, coincidentally or not, the poll he broadcast is the last to show a McCain lead.

The North Carolina poll is a week old. Pollster.com shows there here have been four other polls in North Carolina since then. Three of them show Obama in the lead. One has a tie.

David Gregory should be embarrassed. He should learn about the really great sites with up-to-date polls, like Pollster.com and FiveThirtyEight.com. Those polls Gregory showed aren't "news." Not even close. He's making himself look either out-of-touch or biased by using polls that are so out-dated. Maybe part of the deal Tom Brokaw cut with the McCain campaign was to highlight old polls that showed McCain in the lead. Read More......

Human cost of the financial crisis

The sad, human side of the financial crisis. From AP via the Huffington Post:

An out-of-work money manager in California loses a fortune and wipes out his family in a murder-suicide. A 90-year-old Ohio widow shoots herself in the chest as authorities arrive to evict her from the modest house she called home for 38 years.
...
Across the country, authorities are becoming concerned that the nation's financial woes could turn increasingly violent, and they are urging people to get help. In some places, mental-health hot lines are jammed, counseling services are in high demand and domestic-violence shelters are full.

"I've had a number of people say that this is the thing most reminiscent of 9/11 that's happened here since then," said the Rev. Canon Ann Malonee, vicar at Trinity Church in the heart of New York's financial district. "It's that sense of having the rug pulled out from under them.

This is a financial 9/11 and the warning signs were there. Warren Buffet called derivatives and other complex financial instruments as "financial weapons of mass destruction" back in 2003 and Republicans controlling the White House and Congress ignored them. Read More......

CBS News/NY Times: Obama 53% - Mccain 39%

The latest national poll shows McCain has done himself serious damage:

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is entering the third and final presidential debate Wednesday with a wide lead over Republican rival John McCain nationally, a new CBS News/New York Times poll shows.

The Obama-Biden ticket now leads the McCain-Palin ticket 53 percent to 39 percent among likely voters, a 14-point margin. One week ago, prior to the Town Hall debate that uncommitted voters saw as a win for Obama, that margin was just three points.

Among independents who are likely voters - a group that has swung back and forth between McCain and Obama over the course of the campaign - the Democratic ticket now leads by 18 points. McCain led among independents last week.

McCain's campaign strategy may be hurting hurt him: Twenty-one percent of voters say their opinion of the Republican has changed for the worse in the last few weeks. The top two reasons cited for the change of heart are McCain's attacks on Obama and his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate....

McCain's favorable rating has fallen four points from last week, to 36 percent, and is now lower than his 41 percent unfavorable rating. Obama, by contrast, is now viewed favorably by half of registered voters and unfavorably by just 32 percent....

But with more than four out of five of each candidate’s supporters now saying their minds are made up, the poll suggests that McCain faces serious challenges as he looks to close the gap on his Democratic rival in the final three weeks of the campaign.

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McCain's brother lets loose on the McCain campaign. Talk about drama.

Earlier this week, Bill Kristol smacked the McCain campaign. Tucker Bounds attacked Kristol, which resulted in Kristol fighting back. It was a big intra-GOP cat fight.

Get ready for another round of intra-GOP battles. This time, it's family. How long before Tucker Bounds gets on t.v. to attack the latest GOPer to let loose on the McCain campaign? It might get a little dicey, because the latest McCain campaign basher is McCain's brother, Joe:

In a new shot across the bow of Arizona Sen. John McCain's lagging campaign, the Republican candidate's younger brother is blasting the campaign's top management and desperately pleading for a change of course.

Joe McCain, in an e-mail sent late Monday night, called on top campaign aides to allow more press access to those who know the presidential nominee best. He said loosening the tight message control was needed because it had become "counter-productive" and was "causing gangrene."

Reflecting apparent unhappiness with the way his brother is being portrayed, Joe McCain also said the campaign needs to make new "ads that show John not as crank and curmudgeon but as a great leader for his time."

"Let John McCain be John McCain," he wrote, criticizing unnamed campaign managers for slamming the door shut to reporters eager to interview those who know the candidate best.

Where to begin? First, McCain is a crank and curmudgeon. He's got a nasty temper, too. The problem is that the campaign is letting John McCain be John McCain, and America doesn't like what it sees. This entire campaign is consistent with McCain's erratic, and rather nasty, personality.

Second, Joe McCain's biggest point is that the press loved John McCain and John McCain loved them. He wants to get them all back together having barbeques and donuts again:

In his email, Joe McCain said the decision to clamp down on press contact with intimates of the Arizona senator is "causing gangrene. It has gradually bled away all the good will that this great man had from the press, for he alone among politicians would talk to them openly, without finesse, without guile."

Reporters, he pointed out, once returned the affection "regardless of their political lean ... they loved him nonetheless."

It was love. True love. And this is the first time in years, if not ever, that the media has reported on McCain in an objective manner. And big surprise, it isn't pretty.

Joe McCain does have a point: The McCain campaign is a mess. But, that has as much to do with John McCain as anyone. If McCain can't run his own campaign, how can we ever trust him with our country?

So when does Tucker show up on t.v. attacking Joe McCain? Read More......

McCain's health care plan: Unbelievable

Though it's tempting to weigh in daily - if not hourly - about health care reform, I have promised to keep my work-related posting to a minimum here. However, I thought you all might appreciate this one.

Health Care for America Now, the group I work for, is on the air in 6 congressional districts, the NH Senate race, and Ohio with ads questioning individual Republican candidates (and McCain) on health care. In the course of creating and testing our ads, we discovered John McCain's health care plans were so unbelievable that people thought we were lying (seriously). I read through the test ad results and was just floored at how many people refused to believe McCain would tax their health care benefits at work, give a $5000 check to the insurance companies and leave families on their own to figure out how to cover the rest of the $12,000 family plan premium, strip away consumer protections by letting companies sell across state lines, and force 20 million out of employer-based health insurance and leave them vulnerable to not being able to get coverage at all in the individual market because of pre-existing conditions.

So we turned around and made a video about how floored we were that no one believed John McCain was proposing what he's actually proposing. All the quotes are real. And nope, that's not my voice:

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"Testy" McCain calls Virginia's GOP chair "somebody no one knows about"

The Green Miles at Raising Kaine has the goods on McCain's latest outburst on a Richmond, Virginia radio show today.

See, McCain thinks it's okay for the Chair of Virginia's Republican Party to compare Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden (because the head of the entire Republican party in Virginia is a nobody, according to McCain), but no one can challenge the Erratic One, via The Washington Post:

McCain added, "I am proud of our campaign. I am proud of the campaign I have done, so Jimmy, you're off base when you compare the two statements. One from a most respected member of Congress and civil rights leader and one from somebody no one knows about which we have repudiated continuously."

When pressed by the host, McCain grew testy. "Don't compare the two my friend...I am telling you, my friend, they are not comparable."

Adds Miles:

Jeff Frederick is not just "some individual" in the Virginia Republican Party. He's the chair. Is the Virginia Republican party chairman just a figurehead, no different from the rank-and-file? And the GOP chair in the state McCain lives in most of the year and in which his campaign is based is "somebody no one knows about"?

Finally, can McCain get through even one interview without getting angry? You know he's mad when he uses "my friend" twice in one sentence.

And, can I add, McCain knows he's being watched for signs of that infamous temper. But, he can't control himself. He's losing -- and he's losing it.

Also, what is it with the McCain family dissing Virginia? Today, candidate McCain calls the Virginia's GOP chair a nobody. Last week, McCain's brother called the northern Virginia towns of Arlington and Alexandria a "communist country." Maybe, they just don't realize that Virginia is a battleground and they're down in the polls. Read More......

McCain Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort

Investigative journalist Murray Waas just published a feature story on the ties between John McCain's transition chief and Saddam Hussein.

Here's hoping McCain brings up Ayers tomorrow night. We can all watch John McCain's head explode when Obama hits him with his associate's ties to Saddam.

The Washington lobbyist John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime.

The two lobbyists who McCain aide William Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein's government....

Virtually everything Timmons did while working on the lobbying campaign was within days conveyed by Vincent to either one or both of Saddam Hussein's top aides, Tariq Aziz and Nizar Hamdoon. Vincent also testified that he almost always relayed input from the Iraqi aides back to Timmons.

Talking points that Timmons produced for the lobbyists to help ease the sanctions, for example, were reviewed ahead of time by Aziz, Vincent testified in court. Proposals that Timmons himself circulated to U.S. officials as part of the effort were written with the assistance of the Iraqi officials, and were also sent ahead of time with Timmons' approval to Aziz, other records show.

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More sleaze from increasingly erratic John McCain

Just days after McCain chastized his own supporters for implying that Obama was un-American, McCain's own campaign issued a statement today about Ayers - since, you know, our economic future isn't nearly as important to John McCain as some guy from the 60s. The statement, entitled "Barack Obama, Palling Around With Terrorists," included the following line:

Barack Obama has a different view of America than most of us.

What is that supposed to mean? And who are most of us?

Last time I checked, most of us are voting for Barack Obama and not John McCain. Most of us find an increasingly erratic John McCain, at the age of 72 and after 4 bouts of cancer, too risky a choice for president. Most of us find Sarah Palin a blithering idiot. Most of us are still trying to figure out what possessed McCain to risk America's future on someone so unqualified for high office. Most of us don't look forward to staying in Iraq another 100 years. Most of us don't think Social Security should be privatized and invested into the stock market. Most of us wouldn't trust John McCain within a mile of our 401k. Most of us don't have a $2m Fannie Mae lobbyist running our campaign. Most of us aren't worth $100 million. Most of us don't own 12 homes. Most of us don't have a temper problem that scares our colleagues. Most of us aren't increasingly erratic. Most of us don't hide our medical records from our future employer. Most of us speak up immediately when someone talks about killing our political opponent in front of us.

Most of us don't chuck our honor in order to win an election. Read More......

There's a second Troopergate probe against Palin, and it's expanding

From TPMMuckraker:

There's further evidence that the investigation into Trooper-Gate being conducted by the state Personnel Board could have real teeth.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that the probe has broadened to include other ethics complaints against Sarah Palin, and actions by other state employees.

That's according to the investigator hired by the board, Timothy Petumenos, who conveyed the information in two recent letters sent to an Anchorage attorney who had threated a lawsuit over Palin's effort to waive confidentiality in the matter.

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Obama buys ads in slew of Xbox 360 games

Very very very very very cool. And in addition, it's a total "psych!" to McCain. More from Ben Smith and Phil Singer.





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Palin supporter screams "kill him!" about Obama, again, at campaign event today

Scranton Times:

Chris Hackett addressed the increasingly feisty crowd as they await the arrival of Gov. Palin.

Each time the Republican candidate for the seat in the 10th Congressional District mentioned Barack Obama the crowd booed loudly.

One man screamed "kill him!"

Supporters have been noted shouting “kill him,” “terrorist,” “off with his head” and other equally incendiary terms about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Others have directly suggested Mr. Obama is a Muslim, which he is not, or a traitor.

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Bush strategist: McCain knows he put country at risk by picking Palin

Sam Stein at Huff Post quoting Bush 2004 strategist Matthew Dowd:

"[McCain] knows, in his gut, that he put somebody unqualified on the ballot. He knows that in his gut, and when this race is over that is something he will have to live with... He put somebody unqualified on that ballot and he put the country at risk, he knows that."

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John Cleese on Sarah Palin

This is Michael Palin, who he refers to.

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IRONY ALERT: In big economic speech, McCain warns against "erratic politicians"

We couldn't agree more.

"[T]e hard earned savings of Americans should not be penalized by the erratic behavior of politicians."

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McCain campaign admits they have no idea how much his "new" economic plan will cost

John McCain is supposed to announce his latest economic plan today. Remember, McCain's campaign said last week that if we keep talking about the economic crisis, McCain will lose. Over the past couple of days, McCain and his campaign gave conflicting answers as to whether he even had a plan for the economy -- first he did, then he didn't, now he does again. That may be why McCain's spokesperson, Nancy Pfotenhauer, has no idea how much the plan, which will be announced shortly, even costs.

On MSNBC, Pfotenhauer was just asked how much McCain's plan would cost and how is McCain going to pay for it -- that was the reporter's first question -- and Pfotenhauer couldn't answer. McCain is proposing a massive new plan, all the while making out of control, wasteful government spending his signature issue, and he doesn't even know how much it's going to cost. Pfotenhauer did say, however, that the plan will cost "some amount of money." Some amount of money? That's like answering which newspapers and magazine you read by saying "most of 'em, all of 'em!" That's helpful, huh? It's actually very disturbing and makes it even more obvious that McCain has no plan -- he's just making it up as he goes along:

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Anchorage Daily News on Palin: "In plain English, she did something 'unlawful.' She broke the state ethics law."

Brutal editorial from the Anchorage Daily News. I've been loving the ADN this year. The members of the paper's editorial board read the Troopergate report -- and, given Sarah Palin's response to the report, they don't think she really did read it herself:

Sarah Palin's reaction to the Legislature's Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation.

She claims the report "vindicates" her. She said that the investigation found "no unlawful or unethical activity on my part."

Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian.

Page 8, Finding Number One of the report says: "I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."

In plain English, she did something "unlawful." She broke the state ethics law.

Perhaps Gov. Palin has been too busy to actually read the Troopergate report. Perhaps she is relying on briefings from McCain campaign spinmeisters.

That's the charitable interpretation.

Because if she had actually read it, she couldn't claim "vindication" with a straight face.

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McCain says he has Obama just where he wants Obama. That's why McCain and Palin have to campaign in what were once reliably Republican states

John McCain in the new stump speech yesterday:

My friends, we've got them just where we want them."

He said that yesterday in Virginia on the same day he was campaigning in North Carolina. Later this week, Sarah Palin is heading to Indiana:

But it's a measure of how the Obama-Biden campaign, rolling in money, has forced the GOP candidates to play defense far too long into the campaign. They've recently also been forced to shore up support in two other once-staunch-Republican states -- Virginia and North Carolina.

Even if the Democratic ticket doesn't take Indiana on Nov. 4, it's forced the Republicans to "waste" a precious day of candidate time defending the heartland state and not chipping away at Democratic states elsewhere.

Indiana hasn't voted Democratic in a presidential election since the year Palin was born.

I think, my friends, we've got them just where we want them.

Also, Taegan Goddard has four new Quinnipiac state polls:

Colorado: Obama 52%, McCain 43%

Michigan: Obama 54%, McCain 38%

Minnesota: Obama 51%, McCain 40%

Wisconsin: Obama 54%, McCain 37%

Said pollster Peter Brown: "Sen. Obama's leads in these four battleground states are as large as they have been the entire campaign. Those margins may be insurmountable barring a reversal that has never been seen before in the modern era in which polling monitors public opinion throughout the campaign."

Cross those four states off your list, Sarah. Have fun in Indiana. You better head to North Dakota, too. Read More......

WSJ Headline: "McCain’s Monday Campaigning Leaves Some Puzzled"

Seems like the traditional media is starting to acknowledge what a train wreck the McCain campaign is. "Leaves some puzzled" is an understatement, but it's making the point that McCain is increasingly erratic, even for him:

Several things about John McCain’s Monday caused some head scratching, including the tease of some new economic policies to a town hall meeting with no Q&A.;

It began with McCain’s close friend Sen. Lindsey Graham who said McCain would propose new tax policies this week. Yet Monday brought two stump speeches with no new economic proposals. Instead, McCain reiterated what he’s been saying for weeks.

A conference call with the campaign provided little guidance. It seems Monday was all about unveiling a new stump speech, according to campaign spokesman Brian Rogers.

On Tuesday, McCain will outline “specific new measures,” according to Doug Holtz-Eakin, the campaign’s economic policy director, on a conference call with reporters. He declined to elaborate any further, saying only, “We just need to look forward to hearing from him.”

Then came the event in Wilmington, N.C., held at — irony alert!– Cape Fear Community College. McCain stood in front of the crowd and said he would take questions or comments after he delivered his remarks. He finished his prepared speech and tacked on a longtime stump story about the bracelet he wears. But then the music and handshaking began. No questions or comments to be heard—at least those directed at the senator. “I thought this was a town hall meeting?” a man asked the press corps.

This was the day when McCain was going to jump start his campaign with new ideas and a new stump speech. Didn't quite happen.

Imagine a headline: "McCain’s Presidency Leaves Some Puzzled." Because that's what we'd be getting.

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Bush upstages McCain on economy

Just watched Bush do yet another address on the economic crisis. This is, of course, the economic crisis that Bush and his GOP colleagues got us into. Bush didn't seem to happy as he announced that he's partially nationalizing banks.

Great timing. Bush is the face of the Republican's disastrous economic policy. Later today, John McCain is supposed to finally release his own economic plan to deal with the economic crisis that Bush, McCain and the other GOPers created. But, McCain has been overshadowed by Bush's economic announcements.

Also, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell just told us McCain has wanted to get back to a focus on the economy. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell is an idiot. McCain's campaign thinks if we're talking about the economy, McCain will lose.

Any day that has George Bush front and center isn't a good day for McCain. Read More......

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

21 days. Three weeks til we change the country and the world. And, we have to change the country and the world.

McCain won't bring change, which would be bad enough. But, what we've seen of McCain's "leadership" style is frightening. These are very, very dangerous times. Yet, the main character trait McCain would bring to the presidency is his erratic behavior. That's not what the country needs right now. What's really disturbing is that McCain and his campaign know they're being watched for just that kind of behavior. Instead of masking it, they keep reinforcing it. That's who McCain is and he can't hide it. What some people thought was "maverick" was actually "erratic." And, let's all admit (even those political reporters who worshiped McCain have to admit this), "Erratic" is not the first word one should think when describing a potential president, especially now.

So, 21 days. The GOP still has a lot of ugly fight in it. They're like cornered, rabid animals right now -- capable of anything. They must be crushed.

Get it started... Read More......

Paulson not sure $250 billion bailout is worth executive pay limits

Now wait a minute. This is a pretty important point here and Lord Paulson is completely wrong. Paulson appears to be suggesting that Wall Street did everyone a favor by graciously accepting taxpayer money, so no, there's no link between the $250 billion and executive compensation. Maybe Congress can quit their ridiculous TV stunts that Waxman loves so much and instead address issues like this and assert their damned authority. (I say this as a person who likes Waxman, but hate the made-for-TV dramas. I don't think I'm alone in this sentiment either.) Congress needs to quit acting like a secondary player in this and step up, now. Also, if I hear one more Wall Street pundit tell me about how neutral Paulson has been when the evidence says the contrary, I'm going to scream.

Treasury officials have argued privately that banks aided this way should be exempt from the toughest executive pay restrictions in the rescue legislation passed by Congress.

Some lawmakers disagree.

"Restrictions on executive compensation will ensure that taxpayer money is not wasted enriching the same people whose poor decision-making created this crisis," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. yesterday. "It is imperative that these restrictions, including limitations on the incentives for executives to take excessive risks and the elimination of golden parachutes, should apply to any capital injection program."

Exempting the banks in the program is "not in the spirit of the thing," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, (R-Ala.), ranking member of the Financial Services Committee.

Here we go...two Senators from opposite sides agree. Great. Let's see some action then. Read More......

New South African health minister seeks AIDS vaccine

What a pleasant change from the previous policy of pretending as though there isn't a problem. I would be the last person to argue against using foods to help address health issues but there is no replacement for a serious medical approach to a serious health problem. To deny medical treatment in such an environment, especially since funding was not the issue as it is elsewhere, is irresponsible and dangerous. During my own travels across South Africa and the region, I was shocked at toll AIDS has taken. It's one thing to read about it but quite another to see fresh graves in every town and village. How the previous minister could sleep at night always escaped me.

South Africa’s new health minister asked scientists on Monday to intensify their efforts to find an AIDS vaccine amid widespread gloom overrecent research setbacks.

Health Minister Barbara Hogan said government policies over the past 10 years had failed. Her speech Monday marked a radical break in policy from her predecessor Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who had downplayed the seriousness of the epidemic, mistrusted anti-AIDS medicines and instead advocated garlic and beetroot as a remedy.

Hogan told an international AIDS vaccine conference that countries such as South Africa — where life expectancy has fallen to 52 years — desperately need scientists to come up with a weapon against HIV.

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Asian markets jump, Tokyo up 14%

This run may not last (nor will it cure the long term problems in the economy) but if nothing else, it's good to see that the global markets are retrieving some of the recent losses. Europe unexpectedly kicked this off after the UK launched its rescue plan followed by EU leaders over the weekend. The European investment of $2.7 trillion is much greater than the $700 billion (or even $1.8 trillion, as has been discussed) which is a strong change in Europe from only a week ago.

Dr. Doom is still saying this bailout will fail, claiming that we are still over-leveraged and others are calling this a "dead cat bounce" (something that occurs after the market capitulates) but for now, let's just breath a bit easier that our retirement plans inched back ever-so-slightly. Read More......

The Wizard of Oz in Turkish

Just came across this on YouTube. Wow.

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More conservatives bemoan McCain and Palin

Sam Stein at Huff Post:

"Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada," declared Byron York of the National Review. "Bush won everyone of those states except Pennsylvania. McCain has to do it all. And it is hard to do that by going on Letterman."

The reference was to the Arizona Republican's upcoming appearance on the Late Night Show this Thursday. For the panelists it symbolized yet another instance of what Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan described as "herky-jerky" behavior coming from the Republican ticket.

"Obama seems older in a way," said the former Ronald Reagan speechwriter. "McCain has seemed herky-jerky. Obama has seemed like the older, steadier fellow since the economic crisis began."

....The main object of ridicule and criticism, however, was Sarah Palin. York called her interviews with CBS's Katie Couric "very bad" and immune to political spin.

"She may be a very effective governor of Alaska who wasn't able to pick up on what you need to be an effective vice presidential candidate," said the National Review scribe.

Added Noonan: "Her performance from day one mattered. What the American people saw over the period of five or six weeks, it has been very up and down. From an unveiling that gave rise to questions to a very strong convention speech, to interviews that were disastrous, to a debate in which she came back very strong, to now, ten days on the campaign trail, where I think it is fair to say: that didn't work."

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Senator Roberts pisses people off

An original political ad by the Democratic challenger in the Kansas Senate race, Jim Slattery.

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Senator Feingold criticizes McCain for looking the other way while his campaign incites hate

Remember that Feingold likes McCain, and has said far too many good things about McCain in the past. For Feingold, co-author of the McCain-Feingold Act, to publicly criticize McCain is a rather big deal. I got Feingold's statement via email:

Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold

"In a closely fought campaign like the Presidential race, elements of either side can get caught up in the emotions of the contest. This is especially true during stressful economic times. I heard Senator McCain help tamp down the rhetoric at a recent town hall meeting.

"Regrettably, he needs to do more of that. An energetically waged campaign can all too easily slip over into something hateful and dangerous, and everyone from the candidate on down needs to do whatever it takes to stop that. It won't seem credible for the John McCain I know to say his campaign should be respectful, while seeming to look the other way as his campaign employs certain tactics and rhetoric which apparently are intended to appeal to the fears of some Americans."

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