Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

To the privileged, equality seems like oppression.

Also, are you sure you want people to rate your comments?

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Finding joy where we can, and muddling through where we can’t.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Come on, man.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

The revolution will be supervised.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?

You are here: Home / Archives for 2008

Archives for 2008

The Madoff Bailout

by | 76 Comments

This post is in: ,

Via OTB, this:

Meanwhile, a federal judge on Monday threw a lifesaver to investors who may have been duped, saying they need the protection of a special government reserve fund set up to help investors at failed brokerage firms.

U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton ordered that clients of Madoff’s private investment business seek relief under a federal statute created to rescue cheated investors. Stanton also ordered that business be liquidated under the jurisdiction of a bankruptcy court and named attorney Irvin H. Picard as trustee to oversee that process.

Stanton signed the order after the Securities Investor Protection Corporation asked that steps be taken to protect investors in the scheme, which has ensnared several major banks and prominent figures as victims and could result in as much as $50 billion in losses.

Congress created the SIPC in 1970 to protect investors when a brokerage firm fails and cash and securities are missing from accounts. Funds can be used to satisfy the remaining claims of each customer up to a maximum of $500,000. The figure includes a maximum of up to $100,000 on claims for cash.

Not sure how I feel about this, especially considering this nugget from Atrios last week:

“I am shocked, as I know you are, by this fraud,” Merkin wrote. “As one of the largest investors in our fund, I have also suffered major losses from this catastrophe.” Analyst Henry Blodget wrote on his blog Friday that some savvy investors figured Madoff was up to something because his returns were so high. “Many Wall Streeters suspected the wrong rigged game, though: they thought it was insider trading, not a Ponzi scheme,” Blodget wrote. “And here’s the best part: That’s why they invested with him.”

The entire scam is having serious repercussions:

Around the country, the nonprofit community is reeling from the Madoff scandal. At least two other foundations have been forced to close their doors, having lost virtually all their assets to what authorities describe as a Ponzi scheme that depended on new investment money to pay off on earlier investments.

Charities that depended on those foundations for financing, like the Innocence Project and the UJA Federation, and wealthy donors like Norman Braman, Mort Zuckerman and J. Ezra Merkin have now added the Madoff scandal to the list of reasons that fund-raising has been crimped this fall. In some cases, the foundations had placed their money with Mr. Madoff directly; others had invested with funds that turned assets over to him. And some nonprofits relied on a steady stream of money from donors, like Ms. Levy-Church, with now vanishing fortunes.

Have there been any changes to any regulations, any changes to the way business is conducted since this slow-motion catastrophe started a few months ago? For this outsider, it really looks like the entire system is corrupted, there are no checks and balances, and the market is really looking like a government guaranteed casino. People invest their money in wild schemes, profit for a while, and then when it goes under, they get their money back from the taxpayer.

Correct me if my impression is wrong, but the entire system makes Enron look like a solid business model right now.

The Madoff BailoutPost + Comments (76)

Puppies and Heroes

by | 37 Comments

This post is in: 

Another quick puppy video:

Also, watched a couple more episodes of Heroes (episodes 3-5), and I have to say I am enjoying it. A couple things are pretty predictable- it is clear to me that the short-haired brunette is clearly working for the “bad guys,” whoever they might be, and it is also clear that Peter is not able to fly, but is an empath (I think that is the right term), and able to use the talents of other people around him.

And, it goes without saying that it is always a solid business decision for a network show to have lots of scenes with Ali Larter prancing around like a tart in various stages of undress.

Puppies and HeroesPost + Comments (37)

Creative Capitalism

by | 80 Comments

This post is in: 

As far as I could tell from listening to a synopsis on NPR, the most interesting aspect of Creative Capitalism boils down to a conversation between Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Gates, whose company made vast profits when it created a niche and shut out competition, thinks that corporations should spare some of their resources for charity. Buffett, who managed a firm that thrived in a fiercely competitive environment, thinks that donating corporate resources to charity amounts to stealing from shareholders.

I hope it will not shock readers to reveal I side with Warren Buffett. Wonderful as it sounds when that people like Bill Gates finally realize that he could never spend all his money (I bet he thought about it), his initiative has the look of a food-sick morbidly obese man weighing whether to donate some leftovers. Corporate philanthropy, at least the systematic version proposed by people like Gates, strikes me less as a great idea than a depressing symptom of a second gilded age. Andrew Carnegie’s huge gifts was nice but America still won when we changed the system to make them unnecessary. Modern noblesse oblige, insofar as it survives the looming depression, is mostly a sign of how far our economic system has decayed from whatever high water mark we hit in the mid 20th century.

It may sound weird from an unapologetic liberal, but some days I feel like one of the few capitalists in America. I think the job of private enterprise is to make money, and as far as I’m concerned that is a good thing. I think that free enterprise helped win the cold war. However, supporting capitalism means more than some Randroid fantasy of benevolent merchant overlords. You expect a private business to serve the public good like you hope that the hospital IT guy can remove an appendix. There might be some who can, but it hardly seems fair given his job description.

The key point is that believing in capitalism should mean supporting the idea of separate domains. The domain of private business has nothing to do with the public interest. That is the government’s job. Building on that point, I don’t blame tobacco executives or wall street traders for looking after their shareholders and their own fat parachutes. Like Gordon Gekko I don’t think that greed is anything shameful in business. What else motivates a successful executive? I suppose if we added up people motivated by a passion for floor tile, radio components, empire building, showing up the rest of the high school reunion and changing the way America works with fiber-based insulation we might run a decent sized city. For the rest of the country greed will have to do.

The job of business is to make money. That is greed, and it’s fine. Liberals and, these days, practically everyone who blames a crisis on ‘greed’ either have no idea what they are talking about (liberals), or they are making pointless noise from the food hole to head off useful discussion (Republicans). Greed only breaks the system when the other domain falls asleep at the switch. If the public interest depends on tobacco companies disclosing the carcinogenic addictives in their product or Wall Street execs not leveraging each other to the point of catastrophe then it is the job of government to mandate those things. It is silly to expect a business to sacrifice for the long-term public good if that means that in the short term the business will lose market share and replace its executives.

At the risk of belaboring an obvious point private business is good and even vital, but it is only good for the things that it is good at. Schemes that interfere with the appropriate domains of business and government, whether it comes from overstuffed entrepreneurs like Bill Gates or appeals by Republicans to the benevolent self-regulating magic of private enterprise, unnecessarily complicate what should be a fairly simple picture. Such efforts inevitably get ignored (Gates) or else they destroy the same system that they naively fetishize (Republicanism, with an assist from Clintonomics).

Creative CapitalismPost + Comments (80)

Dyslexics of the World Untie!

by | 64 Comments

This post is in: ,

In what may be the limpest battle cry to date (except, perhaps, for the title of this post), Jon Henke states that it is Republicans who are the perennial victims of having their patriotism questioned, and it is the lazy liberal media’s fault for not calling the Democrats on it:

One of the greatest Democratic tricks this past 8 years has been the Patriotism Dodge: their inexplicable ability to convince the press that their patriotism was being attacked at every turn. Sadly, the press rarely followed up the Democratic harumphing with a simple corrective: “However, nothing had been said about their patriotism.” Their feigned outrage after the Max Cleland ad was probably the first notable example of this misdirection tactic, but they used it routinely.

Even more impressive, if that is the word, has been the Democratic ability to play the martyred patriot even as they were explicitly questioning the patriotism of their opponents.

This is such an absurd assertion that I am not going to go back and list the hundreds of times that Republicans have smeared Democrats as unpatriotic and overtly questioned their allegiance to the country (interested parties could start with the phrase “objectively pro-terrorist,” and work their way through various keyword searches that include “Dick Durbin + Pol Pot” or “John + Kerry + patriotism”), but instead I will turn to the words of the GOP’s standard bearer, his vice-presidential nominee, and even his wife, as recently as two months ago.

John McCain:

Former Navy pilot John McCain took direct aim Saturday at Barack Obama’s recent comment that his primary victory in Iowa “vindicated” his faith in Americans.

“My country has never had to prove anything to me, my friends,” McCain insisted at a morning rally in Springfield, Va., and again at an airport hangar here in the Philadelphia suburbs.

“I’ve always had faith in it and I’ve been humbled and honored to serve it,” he added. “I haven’t been vindicated by anything.”

Sarah Palin, and really, it is hard to narrow it down to just one example:

“This is not a man who sees America as you and I do — as the greatest force for good in the world,” Palin said. “This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.”


Cindy McCain:

In a rare move, Mrs. McCain also challenged Mrs. Obama’s remark, saying as she introduced her husband at a rally shortly after Obama’s remarks, “I’m proud of my country, I don’t know if you heard those words earlier. I’m very proud of my country.”

In fact, an argument could be made that questioning the Obama’s patriotism was the only growth industry of the last twelve months. I could go on, but why should I? We all know how silly this will get with me listing the hundreds of quotes from over the years, let alone the last campaign. And that is without even tapping into the gold mine of commercials released by the McCain campaign and the RNC.

Now what has Jon upset are some quotes that Democrats made when the Republicans put the kaibosh on the auto loans last week, in which Jennifer Granholm and others stated the action was “unpatriotic” and “un-American.” While I would personally not have used those terms, I would like to ask folks how they would describe sitting US Senators actively working with foreign auto manufacturers to drive down the wages of American labor because their states have heavy investments from foreign companies. I might not call it unpatriotic, but I sure as shit wouldn’t file it under patriotism, either.

Poor Republican victims.

(via)

*** Update ***

If you google the phrase “but don’t question their patriotism,” all sorts of fun stuff comes up, including this at the very top of the google search:

You know, back in the 2004 elections, those were the people who were complaining that their opponents were attacking their patriotism. They assured us that they loved this country just as much as anybody.

They don’t, really. What they love is an idealized version of this country that doesn’t exist. What they love is “America”, a fantasy state in which there are no conservatives, and especially no religious right. It’s an America where everyone has a fulfilling life of dignity and value, where there are no homeless people, no crime, and where fuzzy kitties and fluffy bunnies abound for the stroking.

The author of that?


Dale Franks, Jon Henke’s co-blogger at Q and O. Enter the phrase here, and you can find me in my wingnutty prime.

Dyslexics of the World Untie!Post + Comments (64)

Questions and Answers

by | 148 Comments

This post is in: 

Dr. Helen fields a question from a concerned reader:

Dr. Helen:

I’m a middle/high school teacher, of a social-libertarian, economic-conservative bent. All the talk about indoctrination of kids is extraordinarily true. I have kids pass through my class with some of the most insane, Kos-style concepts running through their heads, really doctrinaire hard-liberal stuff. It only got more blatant as the election wore on (and on, and on). I subbed for a fourth grade class in which a girl trotted out the “Bush caused 9/11″ bit. Are you kidding me?

What can I do to help counter this? I’d like to avoid a whole new generation running on Marxist ideology.

Faced with the imminent danger of the Obammunist uprising, I can understand the concern parents might have regarding Marxist indoctrination. This is especially true given the events of the past few months. If your true concern is an entire generation running on Marxist ideology, after the Bush era 700 billion dollar bailouts (and we shouldn’t overlook the several trillions in loans) of the Wizards of Wall Street, my advice to you is to not let your kid grow up to be a Republican stock broker.

I am always happy to help folks out with these troubling questions.

Questions and AnswersPost + Comments (148)

Puppy Update

by | 109 Comments

This post is in: 

I am pleased to report the puppies are doing well, and they are being fed a steady diet of stuffed animals. I also note that their new Steeler dog collars (all Cole dogs wear them) were in place for yesterday’s game against the Ravens:

That is all.

*** Update ***

BTW, I started watching Heroes last night. I watched the first two episodes and it was pretty solid. I think I am going to give the whole first season a shot over the next couple of weeks, but I had a couple questions. What season is currently airing on NBC? Does it go down hill, and am I setting myself up for another Lost fiasco, in which I get totally into a show and then it becomes an impenetrable and unwatchable series of disjointed nonsense and I give up in disgust?

I suppose all shows are like that to some extent- I got tired of BSG after 2.5 and quit watching, and even though I loved Buffy, after she started sleeping with every vampire in sight and morphed into Buffy the Vampire Layer, it became harder to watch. Nothing was as bad, however, as Lost, which always had a premise that was hard to swallow, but rather quickly became too absurd for even tv fiction. At any rate, I suppose I will watch Heroes simply because Tawny Cypress is absurdly good looking. That will keep my attention for at least the first season.

Let the nerd fury begin.

Puppy UpdatePost + Comments (109)

I Wouldn’t Resign

by | 141 Comments

This post is in: 

Gotta be honest- if I were Rod Blagojevich, there is no way in hell I would resign today:

Not long after the Illinois attorney general, Lisa Madigan, told a national television audience that Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois was thinking of possibly resigning here on Monday, the governor’s spokesman broke some news of his own.

Not only was Mr. Blagojevich not resigning, the spokesman, Lucio Guerrero, said, but he was planning to go to work on Monday and study a few bills that might at some point require either his signature or veto — including one that will be hammered out in a special legislative session in Springfield that would strip him of his coveted appointment power over President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat.

“He has no plans of resigning today or tomorrow,” Mr. Guerrero said on Sunday. “He still signs bills as governor, and he wants to see details.”

Only a total idiot would resign right now, especially in light of this:

Conventional wisdom holds that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald ordered the FBI to arrest Rod Blagojevich before sunrise Tuesday in order to stop a crime from being committed. That would have been the sale of the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

But the opposite is true: Members of Fitzgerald’s team are livid the scheme didn’t advance, at least for a little longer, according to some people close to Fitzgerald’s office. Why? Because had the plot unfolded, they might have had an opportunity most feds can only dream of: A chance to catch the sale of a Senate seat on tape, including the sellers and the buyers.

The precise timing of Tuesday’s dramatic, pre-dawn arrest was not dictated by Fitzgerald, nor was it dictated by the pace of Blagojevich’s alleged “crime spree.” It was dictated by the Chicago Tribune, according to people close to the investigation and a careful reading of the FBI’s affidavit in the case.

Now, while I understand the desire to just have him gone, and I think the world will be a better place without Blagojevich in a position of power, if I were him, there is no way in hell I would step down. This is all he has left- his position as Governor. He has no friends, he has no money, he has no political allies as Madigan and Quinn are both openly positioning themselves to have the better angle to stick the shiv in, so the only thing going for him is that he still wields considerable authority and enjoys perks as Governor.

If he resigns, he is a sitting duck.

I Wouldn’t ResignPost + Comments (141)