Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

“They all knew.”

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

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

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

When we show up, we win.

Consistently wrong since 2002

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

Giving up is unforgivable.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2008 / Keating Economics

Keating Economics

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Here is the film you have been waiting for:

It seems to have a nice, polished, documentary feel and finish to it, almost a cross between Frontline and The Smartest Guys in the Room. Which, of course, should tell you something- this has been in the works for a while, and they have been holding on to it to dump on McNasty when he went kitchen sink, as he and Palin have with their terrorist BS.

As a side note, Sen. Howell Heflin makes a cameo. Heflin will remind many of you of Foghorn Leghorn, and for some reason, my memory of him comes complete with seersucker suits. At any rate, perhaps one of George Will’s greatest quips of all time, and I have no idea where he said it, but I remember it clear as day (although I may have paraphrased slightly), is that “Sen. Howell Heflin is a large, loud man who seems to think the lungs are a reservoir of thought.” If anyone can find the citation for that, I would be grateful.

Reader Interactions

109Comments

  1. 1.

    4tehlulz

    HAHA OH WOW:

    Then McCain’s lawyer dropped the real bomb.
    ***
    The Keating Five Investigation was "a political smear job on John [McCain]." WTF? He called Howell Heflin, who led the hearings, a "stooge" of the Democratic machine out to get poor, innocent John McCain.

    Is McCain trying to lose all 50 states (+DC)? WTF dude.

  2. 2.

    TheFountainHead

    So now that thing that he apologized for and was such a personal mistake for him never happened at all and was a smear job?

    GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT! EVEN 11 YEAR OLDS KNOW HOW TO DO THAT!

  4. 4.

    phil

    Google doesn’t have a clue about that Heflin quote or any of its component phrases, whether attributed to Heflin or anyone else, except to quote this blog post back.

  5. 5.

    ThymeZone

    "

    The fact is, it was the wrong thing to do, and it will be on my tombstone and deservedly so

    ."
    John McCain, on his Keating 5 role, December 1999.

    from kilo’s link.

    I am looking into how to get this line painted onto the sides of my car ……………

  6. 6.

    4tehlulz

    Should I drink during tomorrow’s debate, or get wasted beforehand so that I am too sloshed to throw things at the TV? Cuz it’s going to be ugly as hell.

  7. 7.

    cleek

    Here is the film you have been waiting for

    and still waiting… and still waiting… and still waiting… stupid clogged intertubes

  8. 8.

    Shinobi

    So… is the video still working for anyone else?…..nevermind, got it to work via americablog.

  9. 9.

    Jon H

    CBS’s campaign blog called Obama’s use of Keating a case of "guilt by association" like McCain’s use of Ayers.

    No, McCain’s involvement in Keating 5 was a case of guilt by guilt.

  11. 11.

    Juan del Llano

    I have never been so happy with the Obama campaign. Yes, they obviously had this in the can, ready to go, and it’s very good. Did you see the website it comes from, with "Keating Economics" in big green letters smeared with ugly dirt? :-)

    Obama is no amateur. These right-wing goofballs are going to get what they deserve.

  12. 12.

    ThymeZone

    Keating a case of "guilt by association"

    Oh, funny. McCain jetted to the Caribbean on Keating’s airplane and splashed at the beach on the tycoon’s tab, took big money from Keating and tried to shield Keating from regulatory pressure.

    Keating cost many thousands of people their life savings and John McCain was right there in the middle of it. Then when he got caught, he sang like a jaybird about the the other Four in the Keating Five as a way to avoid punishment and take the spotlight off himself.

    Do you know why McCain always talks about not being "Miss Congeniality in the Senate?" Because most senators despise the man, deeply and in every possible way. They know he would fuck them in a second for his own gain if he could.

  13. 13.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    Should I drink during tomorrow’s debate, or get wasted beforehand so that I am too sloshed to throw things at the TV? Cuz it’s going to be ugly as hell.

    Will this be the night that McCain flies into a blind rage?

  14. 14.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    John I couldn’t find the quote anywhere but I seem to vaguely remember it being in a George Will Op/Ed piece about the nomination of Robert Bork. IIRC Heflin was instrumental in Bork not being confirmed.

  16. 16.

    TheFountainHead

    Should I drink during tomorrow’s debate, or get wasted beforehand so that I am too sloshed to throw things at the TV? Cuz it’s going to be ugly as hell.

    I am seriously considering trying to not watch it. Nothing will be said that I haven’t heard or considered before, and should anything truly mind-blowing happen, I’d get a deluge of "OMGZ", "FUCKING PWNED", and "LOLZ@MCSAME!" text messages anyway, so why bother putting myself to the stress of actually watching it?

  17. 17.

    ThymeZone

    I just have one thought as I watch the Obama operation handle this series of attacks from the Potatoheads:

    Kid can play.

    That’s what musicians, or ballplayers, say about a new guy who shows up and makes a dynamite impression right from the get go.

    Obama can play. McCain apparently thought he was running against Dukakis. Surprise.

    McCain is going to look like Kimbo Slice when this is over.

  18. 18.

    cynic

    Remember Chris Farley as Heflin?

    No help on that quote – but thought this one was amusing:

    I see Senator Kennedy has changed his position on offshore drilling.

    Former Sen. Howell Heflin (D-AL), after seeing a National Enquirer photo of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) on top of a woman in a boat.

  19. 19.

    phil

    Found the Heflin quote. It’s from George Will’s January 21, 1988 Washington Post (A23) article about Bork:

    Alabama’s Howell Heflin should listen to his conscience, understood (by H. L. Mencken) as the inner voice that warns us that someone may be watching. Heflin is a large, loud man who seems to think the lungs are reservoirs of learning. In his newsletter to constituents (your tax dollars at work) and in letters, such as one to some constituents in Mobile, Heflin charged that, ”The history of his [Bork’s] life and his present lifestyle indicated a fondness for the unusual, the unconventional and the strange.”

  20. 20.

    Josh Huaco

    @4tehlulz: It wouldn’t surprise me. I missed the VP debate, but my girlfriend watched it, and she said there was one point where Palin looked like she was about to break under the pressure and start crying. I don’t know if anyone else here saw it too, but that’s what she said. Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me if McCain cracks tomorrow night under the pressure as well.

  23. 23.

    cleek

    there was one point where Palin looked like she was about to break under the pressure and start crying

    there were a couple of points where she looked completely panicked. but somehow she was able to keep up the stream of syllables long enough to run out her time.

  24. 24.

    phil

    So the citation would be George F. Will, "What They’re Saying Now About Judge Bork", The Washington Post, January 21, 1988, A23.

  25. 25.

    ThymeZone

    In his newsletter to constituents (your tax dollars at work) and in letters, such as one to some constituents in Mobile, Heflin charged that, ‘’The history of his [Bork’s] life and his present lifestyle indicated a fondness for the unusual, the unconventional and the strange.’‘

    Heh. They don’t come any stranger than friggin Bork.

    After Clarence Thomas, he is the creepiest sumbitch I ever saw in a government building.

  27. 27.

    Rick Taylor

    I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to imagine what Republican strategists are thinking now. "What?!? Fight back? Democrats aren’t supposed to do that!"

  28. 28.

    The People's Glorious Pantload of Studliness

    Speaking of George Will quotes, here’s a doozy from his column in this week’s Newsweek:

    So what is wrong with early voting? Even leaving aside the large matter of increased potential for fraud in voting by absentee ballots, there are two costs to early voting.

    First, for tens of millions of early voters, the campaign process of informing and persuading is effectively truncated. Now, there is evidence that early voters are more partisan and informed than other voters and hence are less likely than the rest of the electorate to be swayed by events late in an election season. Nevertheless, early voting increasingly affects the rhythms of campaigns, forcing the front-loading of arguments […]

    The second problem with early voting is that one of its supposed benefits is actually a subtraction from civic health. The benefit is that it makes voting easier-indeed, essentially effortless. But surely the quality of the electoral turnout declines when the quantity is increased by "convenience voting."

    I guess since the right isn’t gaining traction with its continued howls of "voter fruad! voter fraud!", they’re resorting to being highly indignant that people vote at all.

    Truly a sign that they are so fucked fifty ways from Sunday that not only will they not see power again for a generation of so, they’ll hardly even be able to walk for the next few decades.

  29. 29.

    SGEW

    Will this be the night that McCain flies into a blind rage?

    My prediction (agreeing with TZ’s "kid can play"* observation), is that there will be no real fireworks tomorrow night**. Barack is going to continue stringing McCain along, exhausting him, and forcing him into a series of over extended jabs that hit nothing but sweat and air. He’ll look tired, strung out, bitter, and cantankerous.

    Then, in the final debate, John McCain will be reduced to a red-faced buffoon, hammering his podium, garbling his words, and spraying out racially charged insults in a ever expanding miasma of curse words and frothing spittle while Barack Obama sadly shakes his head in deep regret over seeing such a once honorable man brought so low by his own Macbethian ambition.

    Game, set, match.

    *Brother’s got game, yo.
    **I’ll still be hosting my now-weekly drinking game too, so I hope I’m not too far off.

  32. 32.

    Frank Sobotka

    "I did not have fiscal relations with that institution, Lincoln Savings and Loan …" — John McCain

  33. 33.

    TheFountainHead

    @phil: ZOMG a citation. GTFO of the Internet n00b. Here, we make other people find proof.

    Word, foo. I read that citation and I was like, "Whoah, flashbacks!"

  35. 35.

    Comrade Peter J

    Will this be the night that McCain flies into a blind rage?

    Considering the difference in height and that McCain is unable to put his arms above his head, the only thing I’m pretty sure about is that McCain won’t try to choke Obama.
    On the other hand, he could climb on top of things and hurl himself at Obama’s throat. It did work for the Ewoks, didn’t it?

  36. 36.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    @ThymeZone: McCain is probably going through what Clinton went through.

    This sort of reaction to Obama reminds me of the scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where Butch and Sundance are being chased through the desert and just when they think they’ve gotten away the posse comes into view off in the distance.

    Butch Cassidy: I couldn’t do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who are those guys?

    I can hear Johnny Drama talking to Cindy late at night after she’s put a fresh diaper on him, "Who is that guy?"

    Its like that.

  38. 38.

    jake

    "I know what you’re thinking. ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement, I’ve kind of lost track myself."

    Does John McCain feel lucky?

  40. 40.

    Keith

    FWIW, Chris Farley’s SNL impersonation of Heflin during the Clarence Thomas confirmation was ROTFL-funny. The appearance is burned into my memory, but the only line I can recall was "Judge Thomas, do you think soft-core porn is the way to go?"…delivered with a perfect accent (I lived in Alabama at the time, so I’d seen him on the TV

  42. 42.

    RogerF

    I like this move. It’s gutsy and shows a bit of fire. It’s important for Obama to stay above the fray, which I think he will do, but as long as they are playing the Ayers card they might as well play the Keating card…

    I’m missing Ron Paul:
    tinyurl.com/66o79q

  43. 43.

    ThymeZone

    Financial Crisis invented by Liberal Media

    OMFG, just when you think you have seen everything.

    Oh, sweet Jesus. My yard man, but still ……

    Okay, I don’t call the yard man Sweet Jesus, just Jesus, but my point is, what the FUCK is wrong with that woman?

    This is the year we take the country back from the stupid people. Long, long overdue.

  44. 44.

    D-Chance.

    The Keating Five… who were the other four members of the Keating Five, other than McCain?

  46. 46.

    SamFromUtah

    The amazing thing about this new meme, is how George Bush was involved.

    I think Dumbya is officially a liberal these days, since he keeps making the Republicans look bad.

  47. 47.

    Jorge

    Am I too cynical and too in awe of Obama’s brilliance, or does anyone else think that Obama planned the way the original Wright thing went down?

    The video doesn’t hit the mainstream media until Obama has the election in hand post March 5 but wayyyy before any of the late primaries. Obama comes out and owns the issue with an awesome speech. Wright then comes out and blasts Obama so Obama then gets to disavow Wright and break ties with Wright’s church. Now Wright is in friggin Africa – the same place they sent Kerry’s possible mistress in 2004.

    So, a scandal that could have sunk Obama goes down in a way that allows Obama to come away relatively unscathed.
    I really do think it was planned. I’m so impressed that me and my dead grandfather and dead uncle are all going to vote for Obama.

    Remember, vote early and vote often

  49. 49.

    Laura W

    SGEW:
    Then, in the final debate, John McCain will be reduced to a red-faced buffoon, hammering his podium, garbling his words, and spraying out racially charged insults in a ever expanding miasma of curse words and frothing spittle while Barack Obama sadly shakes his head in deep regret over seeing such a once honorable man brought so low by his own Macbethian ambition.

    That was the most beeeyoootiful sentence ever.
    Big bonus points for "miasma".
    Best word ever.
    "Spittle" is another word you just don’t hear often enough these days. Also.

  50. 50.

    ThymeZone

    Obama just on the tube, speaking to reporters:

    Calm, rational discussion of what steps need to be taken now to calm markets.

    He sounded totally presidential. I am really, really looking forward to the next administration.

    Kid can play.

  51. 51.

    gex

    @The Other Steve:

    The amazing thing about this new meme, is how George Bush was involved.

    Well it’s obvious, really. George Bush is a compassionate conservative who advocated for the ownership society. That’s clearly weak-assed liberal clap-trap. True conservatives are not compassionate and would have qualified that ownership society as being white. The CRA shows what happens when minorities try to own things.

    Ow. Okay, I need to stop. It’s not hard to imagine how the base thinks. It just really, really hurts. I could feel myself getting dumber just forming those sentences in my head.

  53. 53.

    Jorge

    The problem with the "financial crisis was invented" line is that, well, people are paying around 4 bucks a gallon for gas and we all know someone who hasn’t been able to sell their house. Most middle class folks with a 401k have looked at it and seen those trendlines in red. Heck, I know that the rich folks I’m friendly with know there is a crisis cause they’re spending their weekends down on the coast trying to buy foreclosed beachhouses on the cheap.

  54. 54.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    I am looking into how to get this line painted onto the sides of my car ……………

    Lipstick honey! ;)

  55. 55.

    mellowjohn

    btw, thymezone, in high school once pronounce hyperbole as "hyper-bowl" while reading aloud. always thought it would make a great name for a bathroom cleanser.

  56. 56.

    cleek

    Most middle class folks with a 401k have looked at it and seen those trendlines in red.

    not me!

    cause i refuse to look at mine.

  58. 58.

    Laura W

    Hyperbole, like the Mullet …. out of style.

    I am also so not a stylish insider.
    Did you see how many smart words were used there, with correct spelling and punctuation, also mostly all in the right places?
    Maybe "hyperbole" is the best word ever, also.

  59. 59.

    ThymeZone

    always thought it would make a great name for a bathroom cleanser.

    Try HYPERBOWL(R), now with MELLOWJOHN(tm)

    If it gets the ring out of the bowl, I will buy it.

  60. 60.

    ThymeZone

    Did you see how many smart words were used there, with correct spelling and punctuation, mostly all in the right place, also?

    Yes, almost as good as Sarah Palin on Thursday!

    Maybe "hyperbole" is the best word ever, also.

    I’ve never believed that more than I do right now.

    Honest.

  61. 61.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    CNN just a few minutes ago (paraphrased):

    I am looking into how to get this line painted onto the sides of my car ……………

    OMFG!

  62. 62.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    CNN just a few minutes ago (paraphrased):

    If you have a 401(k), hold on, it’s only 25-30%

    OMFG!

    Sorry about the previous comment, I had the wrong thing on my clipboard. ARGH!

  63. 63.

    ThymeZone

    Lipstick honey! ;)

    Great idea! Now that summer is over, I mean.

    I just want to make sure everybody gets a chance to ponder that quote!

  64. 64.

    Common Sense

    Rick Somethingorother on CNN is playing a two second clip of the Keating Vid with the lovely Carly Fiorino there to analyze. The gist of it is that Keating is not something anyone thinks is an issue, what with everyone worrying about the economy (seriously, I am not making this up). "Keating was 16 years ago, fercryinoutloud,’ they say. "Why is Obama talkin about old stuff?" Then they merrily march into Ayers, that being the topical issue it is and all.

    Seriously, he this guy is wondering why we are concerned with the man running for President during an economic crisis being up to his eyeballs in causing the last one.

    Time to bust out the hard stuff. Liberal bias my Fiorino.

  65. 65.

    ThymeZone

    CNN just a few minutes ago (paraphrased):

    Really? GMTA?

    Meanwhile, MSNBC’s daytime Newsbimbo is asking questions like "Why is the Obama campaign going negative?"

    Nope, not making this up.

  67. 67.

    Polish the Guillotines

    I like this move. It’s gutsy and shows a bit of fire. It’s important for Obama to stay above the fray, which I think he will do, but as long as they are playing the Ayers card they might as well play the Keating card…

    There’s no equivalence, no matter how much the GOP or media want to spin it that way. It’s all about context.

    Ayres, Wright, Rezko? Symbolic outrage, at the most. Keating? Financial meltdown.

    McCain can’t shake this one. Not in the current climate. By tomorrow night, even if the markets rebound from today’s losses, the scare will still be palatable. So McCain will argue that Obama is unfit to lead because of his associations with Ayers, Wright, and Rezko. So the obvious question is, even if Obama was closer to those guys than he’s let on, what the hell does that have to do with the economic situation?

    Yet, McCain’s relationship to Keating has a really simple, easy to identify parallel to the current crisis. It’s about banks, it’s about Wall Street fucking over the little guy, it’s about politicians selling their influence, and it’s about taxpayers bailing out rich irresponsible gamblers. In one fell swoop, it demolishes McCain’s "reformer" argument, puts him squarely on the side of the "fat cats", and brings all of the character and fitness arguments right back to the issue of the economy.

    And McCain loses on the economy.

  70. 70.

    ThymeZone

    CNN live cable, debunking the idiotic Ayers smear right now as I type. Lynn Sweet of Chicago Sun Times.

    McCain has shot himself in the groin once again.

  71. 71.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    Dow now down to -491, hmmm, perhaps by the time of the closing bell, it will be up 20 points.

  72. 72.

    ThymeZone

    Why am I not getting the edit link on the comment I screwed up?

    The thing only displays the link for the most recent post, as near as I can tell.

    It’s a feature, not a bug?

    Haha.

  73. 73.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    Why does CNN’s Sanchez not realize that Keating is exactly the same scenario we are dealing with now only on a smaller scale?

  74. 74.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    Nope I never got a chance to edit it at all. I got two edit links for my last two posts up right now, but I never once got an edit link for that one post.

  75. 75.

    ThymeZone

    Why does CNN’s Sanchez not realize that Keating is exactly the same scenario we are dealing with now only on a smaller scale?

    Much easier to run a "news" organization when you don’t have to have any institutional memory. Or knowledge of recent American history.

    Lean.Mean.Clean.Dumb.Strong.

  76. 76.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    Yet, McCain’s relationship to Keating has a really simple, easy to identify parallel to the current crisis. It’s about banks, it’s about Wall Street fucking over the little guy, it’s about politicians selling their influence, and it’s about taxpayers bailing out rich irresponsible gamblers. In one fell swoop, it demolishes McCain’s "reformer" argument, puts him squarely on the side of the "fat cats", and brings all of the character and fitness arguments right back to the issue of the economy.

    Well, apparently the media doesn’t want to get quite THAT honest.

  78. 78.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    McCain just said "America knows me"… uhh, not really Johnny, the person we thought you were isn’t the same person you are showing us you are at all.

  79. 79.

    ThymeZone

    Well, I hope you are all listening to the new "gloves off McCain."

    Just amazing, jaw dropping, nasty and frankly shocking meltdown.

    I can’t believe I am hearing and seeing this. I knew he was going to blow up, but this exceeds my expectations.

    Wow. Just wow.

  80. 80.

    Laura W

    Why does CNN’s Sanchez not realize that Keating is exactly the same scenario we are dealing with now only on a smaller scale?

    Sanchez is a miasma of hyperbole.
    And the most annoying, self-admiring, inanely blathering potato head ever. EVER.
    Also he spittles.

  81. 81.

    Common Sense

    Holy god McCain is now saying Obama hasn’t explained himself. He’s accusing Obama of only responding with insults to legit questions. Apparently Palin’s vow to not answer the questions asked of her slipped his mind.

    The only positive is that there is no way on earth this will work.

  82. 82.

    ThymeZone

    Jesus, the guy looks and sounds like a fucking cartoon.

    This material isn’t even good enough for SNL.

    DougJ, get my money ready. The old guy is going into the shitter.

  83. 83.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    Sanchez is in the bag for McCain obviously. I didn’t get to hear Obama speak, but I get to hear 20 minutes of McCain’s meltdown.

    I don’t watch Sanchez normally, I used to have MSNBC but I don’t get it anymore. :(

  84. 84.

    Polish the Guillotines

    Well, apparently the media doesn’t want to get quite THAT honest.

    Well, now that the cat’s out of the bag, it’s going to be a story. Especially after tomorrow’s debate. I expect Obama will do a good job of making the connections, and the pundits will key off of it.

  85. 85.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    DougJ, get my money ready. The old guy is going into the shitter.

    OMG! That speech was awful!

  86. 86.

    ThymeZone

    OMG. This is wonderful. Obama sends the CNN desk a response to McCain while McCain is still making the speech.

    And they read it on the air!

    We live in wonderful times.

  87. 87.

    Polish the Guillotines

    dang, the dow is all over the place today.

    Only if you consider "way, way, down" to be "all over the place."

  88. 88.

    jibeaux

    This is not a criticism, just a question: this is 13 minutes long. What are they doing with it? Is it a viral internet thing?

  90. 90.

    Polish the Guillotines

    This is not a criticism, just a question: this is 13 minutes long. What are they doing with it? Is it a viral internet thing?

    Yup. If you weren’t aware of the website, Obama’s campaign set up Keating Economics to showcase McCain’s history.

    Youtube was up to just under 190,000 views when I last checked.

  91. 91.

    ThymeZone

    what did they say?

    Don’t remember exactly, but it was a nice rebuttal. Sanchez read it when they broke away from the McCain speech.

  93. 93.

    jake

    Financial Crisis invented by Liberal Media

    More proof, if any were needed, that people who use the honorific Dr. because they have Ph.D’s are insufferable tvvats.

    But the funniest part is she’s recycling a Camp McPOW talking point. "It’s all in your heads! Stop whining and get back to work!"

  94. 94.

    ThymeZone

    Obama’s campaign set up Keating Economics to showcase McCain’s history.

    Everybody in the Obama supporter database got a link to the thing in the last 24 hours. That’s millions of invitations to watch it.

  95. 95.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    That lying fucker.

    Dishonest attack from John McCain in his remarks today in Albuquerque, New Mexico:

    “Senator Obama was silent on the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and his Democratic allies in Congress opposed every effort to rein them in. As recently as September of last year he said that subprime loans had been, quote, “a good idea.” Well, Senator Obama, that “good idea” has now plunged this country into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. To hear him talk now, you’d think he’d always opposed the dangerous practices at these institutions. But there is absolutely nothing in his record to suggest he did. He was surely familiar with the people who were creating this problem. The executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have advised him, and he has taken their money for his campaign. He has received more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other senator in history, with the exception of the chairman of the committee overseeing them. Did he ever talk to the executives at Fannie and Freddie about these reckless loans? Did he ever discuss with them the stronger oversight I proposed? If Senator Obama is such a champion of financial regulation, why didn’t he support these regulations that could have prevented this crisis in the first place? He won’t tell you, but you deserve an answer.”


    Here’s     Obama’s response.

    I want to see the media tear that mendacious old man into scraps too small for a Chihuahua’s dinner.

  96. 96.

    jibeaux

    Okay, I did get the link. But I’m on every Democratic emailing list in the free world. If I read every single email from people trying to get me to elect somebody, I’d have no farting around time whatsoever. And I NEED that time.

  98. 98.

    Josh Huaco

    Financial Crisis invented by Liberal Media

    That blog is written by Glenn "Instacracker" Reynolds’ wife, which should provide all the context you need.

  99. 99.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    That lying fucker.

    I see nothing but tumbling poll numbers in John McCain’s future. ;)

  100. 100.

    Comrade Nikolita

    Rick Sanchez on CNN (or whatever the hell his name is) was getting on the case of an Obama spokesperson for making the documentary on Keating 5. Apparently viewers were criticizing both candidates for not talking about the economy and what they were going to do to fix it, and they didn’t see the connection between Keating 5 and the economy’s current situation. So the Obama spokesperson spelled it out for him and said yes, it is indeed relevant, more than the Bill Ayers thing McCain’s trying to go on.

  101. 101.

    Joshua

    Apparently viewers were criticizing both candidates for not talking about the economy and what they were going to do to fix it

    Ahh yes, "balance". If I call someone an asshole and they respond to me, then the media will report it as a "two people exchanging harsh words".

    Obama has been talking about the economy and what he would do about it for days, weeks, months. McCain by contrast has been talking about how awesome it is and how we are just whining too much. Then when the shit hit the fan he tried a silly stunt that backfired, and is now resorting to smears and character attacks. Obama responded, but yea, neither of them are talking about the economy, right?

    Tomorrow will be interesting.

  102. 102.

    Rick Taylor

    It seems to have a nice, polished, documentary feel and finish to it, almost a cross between Frontline and The Smartest Guys in the Room. Which, of course, should tell you something- this has been in the works for a while, and they have been holding on to it to dump on McNasty when he went kitchen sink, as he and Palin have with their terrorist BS.

    What a contrast to business as usual for McCain and this administration: don’t plan ahead and wing it as you go. One of the things that infuriated Krugman was we had to rush to create a poor bailout plan because the administration had obviously given zero though to what to do in the event of an economic meltdown, even though the economy had been under stress for years.

  104. 104.

    comrade rawshark

    He has received more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other senator in history, with the exception of the chairman of the committee overseeing them.

    Did he just say that the CHAIRMAN of the committee overseeing both Fannie and Freddie has accepted the most money from Fannie and Freddie? Isn’t there a conflict there?

  105. 105.

    Comrade Nikolita

    @Joshua:

    No, I totally agree with you. Between the two candidates, Obama’s been talking about the economy much, much more than McCain. You’re very right. :) I was just saying what Rick Sanchez on CNN was saying to the Obama spokesperson (I didn’t agree with Rick).

  106. 106.

    DB

    I didn’t realize it until now, but McCain’s lawyer in that video is John Dowd, who also represented Monica Goodling.

  108. 108.

    Mr Furious

    Emmy, Oscar or Peabody for that thing?

    That video is the equivalent of smashing a metal chair over the back of a wrestler that’s already lost the match.

    What’s that? This is America where the only thing more stupid than the electorate is the media? This election should be at the point where McCain is too embarrassed to show up at the debate tonight, but somehow this election goes down to the wire…?

    Put a bullet in me now, please.

  109. 109.

    Mr Furious

    Seriously…that debate is must-see tv. I have to know whether McCain will explode "Scanners"-style or emerge from the backdrop curtain like Rambo and run a knife through Obama…

    The guy is ready to go postal over the slightest thing, and now we have this video ripping his carfully crafted myth apart?

    Obama didn’t just question what remains of McCain’s integrity, he held the tiny thing up between his fingers for all to see then took a shit on it.

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