It's all out war

Hillary and Obama are going to destroy each other, or die trying. She hits Obama with a radio ad implying he's a fan of Ronald Reagan, and he's hitting back with a radio ad saying she's a liar and it's her fault we're in Iraq. Absolutely fascinating how vicious it's gotten. And equally fascinating will be how the voters react to either or both of them.

And we're still two weeks away from Super Tuesday. Read the rest of this post...

Al Gore supports letting gay couples marry

From TowleRoad, including video:

"Gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men and women -- to make contracts, to have hospital visiting rights, to join together in marriage, and I don't understand why it is considered by some people to be a threat to heterosexual marriage," he says on the video, which appears on his Current TV network. "Shouldn't we be promoting the kind of faithfulness and loyalty to ones partner regardless of sexual orientation?"

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Frank Zappa vs. Bob Novak on CNN's Crossfire, Circa 1986

My friend Ari just sent me this. Wow. Zappa debating incest with Novak on CNN 20 years ago. YouTube is kind of cool.

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FOX host mocks Heath Ledger's death

Some things shock, even when they come from a top FOX News host. Could be your dead son this man is mocking to all of his listeners. Think about that. Read the rest of this post...

Bernanke wants to bring back the 1970s

Oh great. Yesterday we heard the Fed was going to cut interest rates next week by 1/2 point - in addition to the panic 3/4 point cut - and now Wall Street is counting on yet another 3/4 point cut. This means that the Federal Reserve will be lending money at 2.75% compared to the 4.1% inflation from last year. Bernanke wants to give away money which may eventually help Wall Street, but it's going to be painful for everyone else. He's in complete panic mode and will drag us all down just because he's in over his head with this job.

The Fed is supposed to lead and not be bounced around by the market. All we have today is a follower who is more interested in what Wall Street wants today instead of thinking about the long term issues. Can we get a re-count on his nomination? Read the rest of this post...

Bill Clinton, unplugged. Again.

Okay, Hillary is the candidate, right?

Watching the latest CNN video, one does wonder. Read the rest of this post...

How the market works

A few clever comedians explain issues such as "market sentiment", subprime lending, SIVs and government bailouts. This was recorded back in October, a few months after Northern Rock experienced a run on the bank in the UK. Watch until the end where they deliver the classic line that will surely be dragged out as the Fed continues to press the panic button. Read the rest of this post...

Bernanke: Economy much worse than he's admitted publicly

USNews via Atrios:

People wondering why Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suddenly moved to reduce the bank borrowing rate by three quarters of a point should know that in private he has expressed growing pessimism about the economy. Whispers has learned that has told people in recent weeks that the economic situation some see falling into recession will be much worse than he has admitted to publicly.

We're told by those who've heard him that he says the first six months of this year will be "bad," an adjective that some interpret this as signaling there is better than a 50-50 chance for a recession. Even worse, the former Princeton prof believes the ensuing recovery will be "weak" because of persistent problems in the housing market that will result in subdued consumer spending.

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AT&T; wants to spy on you, again (still)

It's like a drug with these people. And the Democrats in Congress are about to tell AT&T; and Verizon and all the other little spies that it's okay for them to violate your privacy, read your emails, watch your video chats, record your instant message exchanges. AT&T; is the dirty old man peeking through your window and the Democrats' solution is to give him stronger binoculars. Read the rest of this post...

Fed panicked and "set us up for another bubble economy"

The next president needs to sack Bernanke after his wobbly kneed move yesterday. How could anyone see it as anything other than complete panic? Business leaders are chiming in with plenty of valid criticism. Even at rates of 3.5% (with more expected next week) cash is available for well under the rate of inflation which is at 4.1%. How is this not going to promote even more inflation? Inflation may not be an issue for the Wall Street wealthy but is sure is for everyone else.

“We have a market-friendly Fed possibly injecting a lot of liquidity in the system which will set us up for another bubble economy,” said Stephen Roach, head of Asia for U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS.N).

“I’m sort of worried that all they did yesterday was to hit the snooze button. (This is) excessive monetary accommodation that just takes us from bubble to bubble to bubble.”

Lawrence Summers, a former U.S. treasury chief, was critical too: “It’s hard to give a high grade (to central banks) for what’s happened in the last six months.”

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Dow down 225 in first ten minutes of trading

CNBC: Worst opening for the NASDAQ since just after September 11. Dow now down about 125. Read the rest of this post...

Edwards about O'Reilly: 'Most of what he says is crap'

With all the back and forth between Hillary and Obama, it's easy to forget the other guy. His appearance on yesterday Letterman isn't a must-see, but it's good, and gives you a sense of the man. Ok, strike that, just watched a bit more. This was good:

LETTERMAN: You know what I've noticed about Bill O'Reilly? And he's a marvelous communicator. But he doesn't really care very much about telling the truth.

EDWARDS: Yeah I've noticed.

LETTERMAN: Very entertaining. And I like when he's on the show. But if you say one thing...

EDWARDS: Most of what he says is full of crap.

LETTERMAN: I like how you think, Senator.

The audience was visibly (audibly) shocked, then slowly breaks into a good applause once they realize it's okay to tell the truth about O'Reilly. Read the rest of this post...

Study: Powell and Bush were biggest liars about Iraq -- with plenty of help from the media

New study confirms what we already know. Bush and company lied to lead the country to war. They were abetted, of course, by the stenographers in traditional media who dictated their every word. Bush wasn't even the biggest liar -- Colin Powell was:

Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan.

Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida, the study found. That was second only to Powell's 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida.

More after the break on the media's role.

The media was complicit. Sure, there are media types who have since acknowledged their role in promoting the Bush-led war. But, have they learned anything? Doubtful. Bush has repeatedly lied right to their faces and most of the media still take his word at face value with no analysis or critique:

"The cumulative effect of these false statements - amplified by thousands of news stories and broadcasts - was massive, with the media coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical months in the run-up to war," the study concluded.

"Some journalists - indeed, even some entire news organizations - have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical. These mea culpas notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided additional, 'independent' validation of the Bush administration's false statements about Iraq," it said.

They still do provide validation for Bush's false statements about anything. Read the rest of this post...

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

How's our economy doing today?

Bush has 364 days left. One the one hand, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. On the other hand, it's scary to think of what else can the guy do to ruin America -- and the rest of the world.

Let's get it started. Read the rest of this post...

Asian markets pick up today

It's still a bear market (down 20%+ from their peak) but buyers are grabbing some deals after the recent crash. As markets settle a bit, we need to start re-thinking where we want to go in the future. If we're going to have bull markets with high profitability, who really cares if it only impacts the select few?

Any time reasonable people talk about change, the GOP drags out there "commie talk" nonsense which offers nothing to a serious discussion about solving a very serious problem. Sure some people will profit more than others and that's fine. The problem is we see fewer and fewer people even have the opportunity to move up and less purchasing power in the middle. Predictably we now see that many Americans still have yet to bounce back from the last Bush recession. There are more Americans living in poverty today compared to 2001. A good (American) friend of mine, who is a Republican of yesteryear but who abandoned the party in 2000 often tells me that "America has become a mean spirited and self centered country." Sadly, I agree. We can either start changing the direction or continue this decades long decline of the middle class. Read the rest of this post...

SEC positions left open by Bush while markets collapse

The only remaining Democrat at the SEC is resigning and Bush still has yet to move on the other Democratic position, open since last year. He does nothing because this is the system that the GOP wants. No oversight or regulation and whatever Big Business wants. Investors? Who cares? Fairness? Not on your life. Balance? Kidding, right? Bush is not going to move because for him, everything is just fine. Of course, this also means that Bush and the GOP own this problem. The failures - which are extensive - are the failures of the GOP and there's nobody to hide behind. The US economy continues to hit new lows not seen in decades and he does nothing. Worst president ever. Read the rest of this post...