Rabbit Valley Road

2/13 of the McCain Automobile Fleet: Top, a 1965 CJ5 Willys Jeep. Bottom, a 2007 Prius Hybrid.

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Roger Ehrenberg on Why Things Have Gone So Wrong:

Lack of transparency. Intellectual dis-honesty. Failure to read the pulse of the nation. In my adult life I have never seen a backlash so powerful or so well-timed as this. The voting public called bull#$%& on Hank Paulson, the President, Congress, Ben Bernanke, and anyone else associated with the current proposal, right in the midst of an election year. It could have been so easy. See problem. Identify key elements of problem. Quantify magnitude of problem. Develop plan to address problem in conjunction with needs of key constituencies. Clearly and thoughtfully articulate the plan to solve the problem. Put plan on floor of Congress. Pass plan. Implement. Repeat if necessary. But this is not how it came to pass.

David Brooks:

And let us recognize above all the 228 who voted no — the authors of this revolt of the nihilists. They showed the world how much they detest their own leaders and the collected expertise of the Treasury and Fed. They did the momentarily popular thing, and if the country slides into a deep recession, they will have the time and leisure to watch public opinion shift against them…

I’ve spoken with several House Republicans over the past few days and most admirably believe in free-market principles. What’s sad is that they still think it’s 1984. They still think the biggest threat comes from socialism and Walter Mondale liberalism. They seem not to have noticed how global capital flows have transformed our political economy.

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If Sarah Palin is an energy expert, I’m Doctor Manhattan.

via Josiah

Noah Millman:

There are lots and lots of reasons not to like this bill. But most of those reasons are Democratic talking points. The GOP alternative proposal was borderline illiterate…There is only one party in Congress that thinks we are in a financial crisis, only one party in Congress with a functioning leadership.

For the time being, goodbye retirement.

If there has been a failure in the system today, it lies with our Republican leaders in the House. They failed to educate their constituents on the breadth of this crisis. They failed to illustrate the complexities of our economy to the general public. They failed to draw connections between Wall Street and Main Street. They failed to push back against the political fire they were under. And they inserted politics into this process from Thursday on.

For all intents and purposes, the House GOP had no intention of working with the White House or Senate last week. They’re covering their asses, and clinging to a faltering presence in Congress. They saw an opportunity to hold on to and potentially increase their margins, and they went for it. (See note below)

I understand the broad opposition to the revised Paulson bailout. I get the anger - hell, I’m angry - but ignorance and anger are not a sound basis for making decisions. The House GOP capitulated to the whims of mob rule without offering any viable steps forward.

Update: @robalderman makes a fair point that a large number of Democrats also opposed the bill.

For the love of God, Stop the Insanity!!!!!!!!

via Andrew Sullivan

I expected a slow start to the week this morning, and planned a longer post on the bailout. That was before my inbox exploded. Now, I’m trying to put out a shitload of fires.

Suffice it to say, hilzoy hits a lot of great points that I wanted to address, especially in light of all the B.S. analysis getting published at the Chattanoogan, comments at the TFP, etc.

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Thomas L. Friedman:

We don’t just need a bailout. We need a buildup. We need to get back to making stuff, based on real engineering not just financial engineering. We need to get back to a world where people are able to realize the American Dream — a house with a yard — because they have built something with their hands, not because they got a “liar loan” from an underregulated bank with no money down and nothing to pay for two years. The American Dream is an aspiration, not an entitlement.

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John Holdren from Hot, Flat, and Crowded:

A charlatan can tell a lie in one sentence that a scientist needs three paragraphs to rebut.

Marc Ambinder on the ‘No, Henry Kissinger is my BFF showdown, Friday:

If Kissinger’s views on Iran are “entirely compatible” with John McCain’s…then it seems as if there is very little daylight between Barack Obama and John McCain on how and when to negotiate with Iran.

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I just watched the trailer for Oliver Stone’s W. The film follows the current president from his early booze & blow days through the Iraq War. The trailer draws attention to some of the big players in the first few years of the Bush Administration: Rove, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, etc. W. is set for an October 17 release.

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Jim Carroll, Forced Entries:

If you haven’t died by an age thought predetermined through the timing or your abuse and excesses, then what else is left but to begin another diary?

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