Bailing Out the Debate?

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First, here's a link to Chris Dodd's conversation this morning with Imus. Must listening.

It's all about housing...this didn't have to happen. The president's a no-show. Hank Paulson doesn't know how this city works [Sarah Palin, you listenin'?]. The lack of leadership comes from the center of the government.

Gamesmanship and political theatre.

Administration still arguing for golden parachutes.

This is a mess it didn't have to happen. Must have taxpayer protections. I accept the gravity of the situation. Don 't need a political photo op.

Yes, Wall Street must have confidence, but the American taxpayer must have confidence, too.

McCain hasn't been involved, it's not his issue, having this distraction did not help. "Republicans are furious over what John did yesterday."
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So as the day goes along...is McCain going to show up at Ole Miss? Will there be a debate? Is he sittin' in Boner's office even now preppin' to sandbag Obama at the debate? Or will he keep tryin' to duck?

Oh, and will there be a resolution on the bailout?

"Dodd's Speech"

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Remember when Senators stood up on principle and said "enough"?

Nope, me neither, unless I happen to stumble across an ol' uncolorized Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Well, brace yerself and take a look at this. Because Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd has taken the floor to remind his colleagues and all of us what Democracy is supposed to look like.

Christy has commentary at Firedoglake, you'll find links there to other bloggers as well. Because reporting on the vote on FISA and telco immunity—for actions to peek into every American's privacy that began before 9/11 and have continued for years...without warrants and in defiance of the Constitution— is too important to trust to the Very Self-Important Media and its all infauxtainment alla time.
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Top Dogs

There are winners to celebrate this morning. Top dogs in politics and—who can resist 'em—in dogdom. Uno the beagle won the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night, and hurray for the underdog. Although as the hours of Westminster played out, it was obvious he was the crowd favorite and the media darling. Salut! to Uno.

And sorry, politicians, you play second fiddle today. Maybe because the primary season, as important as those wins are, seems like an avalanche of primaries and caucuses coming at us pell-mell like a runaway train. But a shout-out to Barack Obama and his team today, continuing to pile up impressive wins, this time in the Potomac Primaries. And to Donna Edwards, the upstart candidate who defeated her incumbent opponent. Kudos to the Democrats for rallying stellar numbers of turnout. And yes, even the Republicans have awakened and taken notice and are turning out to vote.

We, the people will be the winners come November if this pattern sustains and the movement for change continues to grow and grow. We need, desperately, to be the winners.

Because there are men and women to be brought home from Iraq. And there must be homes for them to come back to. Healthy homes. This morning on the Imus Show, Senator Chris Dodd soberly discussed the dire state of the housing industry. This isn't just a subprime mess. This isn't just a regional mess, like the California housing bust a few years ago. This is, says Dodd, the worst national housing crisis since the Great Depression.

And its ripple effect is flowing through the entire economy. When a home mortgage is foreclosed, everybody in the neighborhood loses value on their own home. When the subprime market goes bust, even the prime-est of borrowers has a tougher time getting credit.

How did we get here? Seven years of no oversight, no cops on the beat, no guard dogs at the gate, no controls for a runaway pack of predators. Bad lending practices luring in the foolish and the naive. Dodd laid out the grim projection for the housing market that will prevail long after BushCo hightails it back to Texas. We'll be cleaning up his garbage for a long time, and it will be hard work. And in a year or two, don't let the rightwing barkers get away with saying it's not his crap.

So what is government, anyway? Is it dog eat dog? I don't think so. It is the team, working together, covering the Iditarod miles as champions, working at Westminster in spirited competition for best of show.

And showing us in primary after primary that underdogs can win...with a plan and a vision and championship attitude.

Obstructed Views

Driving the morning errand circuit today, I stopped in the left turn lane at a busy intersection. Had the green light, but facing me in the opposite left turn lane was a honkin’ big SUV that totally obstructed my ability to see the oncoming traffic in the lane next to him.

Even craning my neck to the left ’til I bumped the window, couldn’t see what was coming.

The political-media world is a lot like that these days.

We try and try to stay our course and prudently see what lies ahead, but the view is too often obstructed by honkin’ big SUVs. [Yeah, I tried to come up with some clever, snarky phrase for that, but the caffeine’s not kicked in yet this morning.]

The radio news talks about the latest headlines and kinda slips in “bailout for two bond companies…” What’s this? You mean it’s not all about putting money back in people’s pockets? Saving people’s homes? Protecting the little guy?

Why are we not surprised.

Politicians are busily lining up arguments for their points of view on the FISA retroactive immunity issue. Orrin Hatch was spinnin’ away first thing this morning on Imus. Short take: civil liberties are for wussies, we gotta protect our patriotic American phone companies….

Wouldn’t have anything to do with CYA for the White House spin machine and its 935 and counting lies that led us into the criminal enterprise of corrupt cronyism known as the occupation of Iraq, now would it?

That’ll be bailout for the big boys, too, while the foot soldier is down to one foot and struggling for decent healthcare in a grossly underfunded VA system.

Senator Chris Dodd’s filibuster intention is being pecked away at by the lockstep rubberstamp Republicans…but also too many Democrats who still haven’t found their spines. Maybe they think those ski poles in Davos would be a working substitute?

Or is this just more “bailout for the big boys”?

Lots of media sturm und drang about Hillary’s campaign style these days. She brought her guns blazin’ to a knife fight was one take on the SC debate. Maybe the Chicago political organizer and his team and the hand-wringing media guys need to remember just where Hillary grew up—she’s got The Chicago Way in her DNA.

Picking our way through this tangled course to the election, to every vote that comes along, whether it’s votes in Congress or our own in a voting booth, demands much. If we have expectations of our politicians, we gotta remember that face lookin’ back in the rearview mirror is our own.

Will we be able to say on Election Day, I chose the right way to travel, I stayed the course, I cut through the obstructions and fog and followed the right road, and there’ll be no mea culpa’s from me once the journey’s done?

Well, will we?