BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

This week has been like bad sex, up and down and up and down, but interesting enough to hold our attention.

Before the week really began, the Fed backed JP Morgan Chase back Bear Stearns.  Best that can be said is Bernanke was flying by the seat of his pants.  Lots of smiles from the right but more frowns from the left.

Apparently Bear Stearns and other investment banks can turn on that one thin dime they are worth.  For as long as investment banks have been around, they have preached capitalism and non-intervention by government.  Now that the CEOs have robbed from the rich to make themselves richer, the investment banks are begging for (divine?) intervention.  Ben and Hank delivered.  (Let us not forget that Henry Paulsen came to the Treasury Department from his position as CEO of Goldman Sachs)  I’m sure they will be rewarded for their efforts in the future.  And, of course, with the cash infusions by the Fed this week, those freely regulated, non-intervention prone capitalists still do not want to be held to federal regulations.  …. Ah… biting the hand that fed you?  Oh, not a hand out but a hand up?  Right.

Principle of the Week:  Wall Street before Main Street.  Our checks are still in the mail… aren’t they?

Investment of the Week:  Printing presses.  As one economist said, the Fed will just print up more money if its needed.

Oil and gold were up.  Stocks were down.  Oil and gas were down.  Stocks were up. 

Interest rates were lowered again, now at 2.25%.  For whom the rates dropped… Ah… You?  I think not.  I kept hearing that our consumer interest rates would drop… credit card interest, mortgage interest.  Well… I didn’t see anyone moving back into the foreclosed homes.  No one I talked to had a drop in the interest rate on his credit cards.   Maybe the interest rate drop for consumers is in the mail with the check.  (Wait until you hear the third great lie.)

On the political front, Bush celebrated the fifth anniversary of the War in Iraq by saying something stupid about “victory” in the same sentence with “Iraq”.  He is still clueless. 

Of course, his Dick was touring the mid-East for some reason.. fishing or something.  He did a brief interview with Martha Raddatz.  When told that most Americans are now against the war, Dick said, “So?”  I see no need to elaborate further on that. 

Lest the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are not enough to keep the Washington warriors occupied, Cheney hinted that Iran must be stopped from developing nuclear weapons.  There was a gleam in his eye and I swear, I thought I saliva beginning to slide from the corner of his mouth.  Let’s just hope he never answers the phone at 3:00 a.m.

John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham visited the Mid-East also.  Well, where do I begin?  John McCain swears that he understands foreign policy but on four… I repeat FOUR… separate occasions he commented that Iran was supplying weapons to Al-Qaeda.  Joe whispered in John’s ear that Iran may be supplying “extremists” but not Al-Qaeda.  The old man corrected his mistake and kept on going… until he repeated the mistake again… and again.  It’s worth watching the video clip to see Lindsey Graham lowering his head.  Have you ever wanted to disappear?

When asked about the economy, John McCain said he would “get back to you” in about a month.  Is there a crash course for economic policy?  For all the Republican fear-mongering, my greatest fear is John McCain anywhere near the White House.

The highlight of the week was the speech Barack Obama gave on Tuesday in Philadelphia.  I don’t know if it changed any minds, but I will say that he has more guts than anyone running for office.  He didn’t run from the issue of race but laid it right out on the national table and said let’s talk about it. 

The talk itself was eloquent.  Again, I am reminded that Obama could read the New York phone book and we would sit in awe.  He did look presidential standing before the crowd.

Of course, the talk did little to squelch the Jeremiah Wright clips that have been looping through the airwaves, but it did squelch Hillary for the week.  Where did she go this week?  Anyone see her? 

Oh!  Hillary was in Michigan this week… for what?  She wants them to vote again.  Well, it would be nice if both Michigan and Florida could get a do-over.  I’ll agree with that.  But, Hill…. you can’t accept the rules, endorse them, then figure out they aren’t favoring you and want to change the rules.  No one wants to see any voter become disenfranchised.  But, this didn’t slip in the back door when no one was looking.  Everyone knew the rules.  Sometimes trying to prove that you don’t have to follow the rules bites you in the ass.

About old Jeremiah and the picture that surfaced of him and Bill Clinton grasping one another at the confessional prayer breakfast… well, it was the breakfast when Mr. Bill confessed that he had sinned… with “that woman”.  Strange to think that Jeremiah would have been present among Mr. Bill’s confessors.

Hillary’s kazillion pages of First Lady Papers were released, showing that she was here and there and here and there.  She claims that her presence at specific places at specific times gives her “experience”.  I have to doubt the validity of that.  She was in the White House on at least three occasions when Mr. Bill and “that woman” were “not having sex”.  My point is not to bring up Mr. Bill’s dalliance… I say that’s his business…. but to say that just because Hillary was here or there certainly doesn’t mean she took part in any activities or knew what was going on. 

Senator John Murtha (D-PA) endorsed Hillary, but I swear to you, his reasoning seemed that he was endorsing Barack Obama. 

Governor Bill Richardson endorsed Barack.  His endorsement should carry some weight.  And, by the way, Bill…. keep the face fuzz.  It looks good!

While Bush, Cheney and McCain were telling us all how we must keep our eye on the Mid-East for our national security, The Department of State (Conde’s mine field) was handed over to low level contract workers with no background check or pre-screening.  Given computer access and passwords, they snooped out the passport files of Barack Obama.  On Friday, the big confession came.  All three candidates’ personal and private information has been breached over the past year.  And, they were going to mention this when?

It took a reporter to bring the subject to a State Department spokesman, who knew nothing about it.  In fact, no one of any consequence in the State Department knew about the breaches until a reporter, an outsider, brought it to the attention of the department.  Now…. here’s the trick.  The State Department said nothing criminal had been done unless one of the contract workers had told someone they had breached the files.  Well, maybe this is dumb question, but how did the reporter know to ask the question if no one had told him?  ESP?  Good guess?  Fishing expedition?  Ah… I think we need to be looking for criminal charges against someone.

And, last but not least… it seems that most of our “F” agencies were out of the news this week.  But, what about that EPA? It seems that within the next eight years all incandescent lights will be out and fluorescent lights will be in…. CFL lights.  And, it seems that all of us will be buying hazmat gear to wear if we should break one.  I refer you to the 11 step program for cleaning up a broken CFL light bulb.  I reiterate.  At least we were spared another 12-step program.

Lights out, folks.  Enjoy the weekend.