And here's the elegant and eminently presidential Mr. Obama.
Journalistic bias? Well, maybe the article -- a Patrick Healy "Political Memo" -- supports it:
It was classic John McCain and classic Barack Obama who grappled with the $700 billion bailout plan over the last week: Mr. McCain was by turns action-oriented and impulsive as he dive-bombed targets, while Mr. Obama was measured and cerebral and inclined to work the phones behind the scenes....So the choice of pictures is absolutely appropriate. You may question Healy's analysis, but the pictures perfectly illustrate it.
As Mr. McCain appeared as a man in motion last week, Mr. Obama’s cautious side was on clear display....
Mr. McCain, meanwhile, thrives in the fray....
Mr. Obama does not tend to take fiery or partisan swipes just for the sake of them....
Voters list the economy as a priority, and Mr. Obama’s placid public approach may not mesh with the anger that many of them feel. But Democrats say that in the long run, Mr. Obama’s approach will appear as an appealing alternative to President Bush and his choice as a successor, Mr. McCain.
I happen to like Healy's analysis. I've called Obama phlegmatic. I wonder how he keeps going and how he inspires when he seems so low energy. But there's something subtly amirable in that stolid stability.
Remember when Obama promoted himself as having "the right temperament for the presidency"? He said: "I don't get too high when I'm high, and I don't get too low when I'm low."
Does that seem like a good idea about now?
Posts
96 comments:
More importantly, Obama is wearing a flag lapel pin. Where is McCain's flag lapel pin?
Does that make Obama a crock-pot?
I get the opposite effect from the photos.
``Here's Obama imitating Presidential'' is the Obama pic feeling. Once you've heard him speak, you've tuned him out as a serious person forever except as parody. He looks like he talks. He's some soap opera woman's idea of something desireable.
He could change it by exhibiting the slightest understanding of, for example, the economy. But everything he knows about the economy is soap opera narrative.
McCain just looks like what real people look like.
McCain's not great on the economy either, by the way, but at least it's random whether he goes off on some tangent rather than certain.
I think the trajectory of this race is pretty obvious now. So is the outcome.
NYT. Working hard to get McCain elected.
"And I don't know too much about anything. And I won't do much about anything."
---The Man Who Equates Leadership With Voting "Present" over 100 times.
Nothing seems to make sense.
The "Change" candidate is from a big-city machine and his running mate's a 30-year DC insider. One guy's got 20+ years military experience and 20+ years national political experience. The other guy can barely list any legislation he's passed or times when he worked with the other party.
Something indeed there is otherworldly about Obama and his up-thrust jaw.
Fascinating the words the reporter uses... McCain is "action-oriented...impulsive...a man in motion..catalytic...bully pulpit....thrives in the fray"
Obama..."analyzer-in-chief...cool and slow...placid...serene..."
Sounds like FDR v. Hoover.
I loved it when he said he would have fired the head of the SEC. Hell, yes. People have to be accountable for their deeds or misdeeds.
Here's the arty and cool but distorted and disturbing picture of McCain.
And here's the elegant and eminently presidential Mr. Obama.
Perhaps they are merely reflecting the virtually certain outcome of this election: that Obama will will.
Er, make that win.
The picture of Obama makes him look like the walking dead. The McCain picture makes him look lost.
Neither picture makes its subject look good, in my view.
stolid stability?
How come I'm seeing the word stool?
Actually in the first photo McCain looks like the eye of the storm.
The one stabile point in the vortex of energy around him.
{Not that I particularly agree with tha, but that is how it translates to me.}
So the movie we will be watching for the next four years will either be "Top Gun" or "Weekend at Bernies."
What happens if you don't like either one?
The article tells me that Obama carries no weight, even in his own party.
"Mr. Obama was measured and cerebral and inclined to work the phones behind the scenes"
What is that, but an admission by the reporter that Obama's impact was undetectable? Given the need to make him seem important, they assign him "behind the scenes" influence that doesn't exist. The most anyone in his party can even say is that he was "measured, cool and thoughtful."
Empty Suit Obama winning the Presidency with a Dem Congress in place.
One might as well speak to us all the words of the albino assassin in Sidney Pollack's "The Firm":
"This is not going to turn out well for you".
Trooper York said...
Does that make Obama a crock-pot?
More like a chafing dish.
Mr. McCain was by turns action-oriented and impulsive as he dive-bombed targets, while Mr. Obama was measured and cerebral and inclined to work the phones behind the scenes....
As I understood the activities after the debate, McCain is the one who spent the weekend "working the phones" talking to Paulson, Senators and House GOP trying to broker the deal.
Obama on the other hand, called Pelosi, Reid, and went back on the campaign trail with a business as usual approach.
who was reaching out across the aisle trying to put country first?
This bit of the article was interesting:
"...President Bush and his choice as a successor, Mr. McCain."
I am pretty sure Bush stayed out of the nomination contest. So I can only take this comment as a bit of bleed-over from the Dem. meme that Bush=McCain.
"I think the trajectory of this race is pretty obvious now. So is the outcome."
"Perhaps they are merely reflecting the virtually certain outcome of this election: that Obama will will."
Interesting the appearance this weekend of shit-eating hubris from the Obamatrons. The great thing about such hubris is that: 1. If McCain wins, the delicious schadenfreude of rubbing the Messiah's disciples' faces in the rubble will be mirabile dictu. 2. If the Messiah manages to con enough stupid Americans into voting for Him and He takes His place upon the Throne of Heaven in the Oval Office, the tremendous crack-up following his eventual cluster-fuck of a failure of his Presidency will be satisfying if not entirely pleasant. I just hope the fuck-ups don't cost us our lives and our livelihoods. 3. If the Messiah wins and He turns out to be as wonderful and brilliant as advertised and flowers pour from the asses of our enemies in the Middle East and Europe, then America will be lucky and we'll all win.
So it's a winning situation all around, one way or another.
Any picture of any candidate at this point in the election is nothing more than a Rorschach ink blot.
"Mr. Obama was measured and cerebral and inclined to work the phones behind the scenes...."
Bo was inclined to read the notes
Barney Frank (D) Fannie Mae, and Chris Dodd (D) Countywide, prepared for him.
If you look real close you can see
Franks hand up BO's a.........
I am pretty sure Bush stayed out of the nomination contest.
I took that comment to mean that Bush prefers McCain to Obama as a successor. It wasn't commenting on the Republican Primary. That was my take, at least.
As for the pictures: What I notice is that Obama's picture shows him walking toward the camera with other men following him. He is being shown as a leader. The McCain picture shows the Senator standing still with a lot of commotion around him. It conveys a lack of leadership in a world spinning out of control.
Does that make Obama a crock-pot?
No a Thermos bottle...How do it know?
Interesting the appearance this weekend of shit-eating hubris from the Obamatrons.
Well that's what happens when McCain spends two weeks eating shit in the polls.
Trooper said...So the movie we will be watching for the next four years will either be "Top Gun"
As a soldier, I always have a bit on contempt for Squids, but for me the best scene in Top Gun is the intro carrier deck one.
The completely amazing ballet of steel, velocity, violence and potential death that is the flight deck of a carrier during flight ops. Only a team that knows exactly what they are doing and what everybody else is going to do can survive on that deck. It makes the play calling of a superbowl team look simple.
That fisheye view of McCain and trooper's reference to Top Gun ties things together for me.
"So the movie we will be watching for the next four years will either be "Top Gun" or "Weekend at Bernies."
What happens if you don't like either one?"
What's absolutely terrifying is that while Top Gun has no sequel, there is a "Weekend At Bernie's II". And it's even worse than the first one.
It's going to be a tough eight years I think, whichever theater Americans wander into at this Podunk Two-Screen cineplex we call an election.
I think it can be assumed that Bush will be in favor of the Republican candidate, so why include that clause?
"But Democrats say that in the long run, Mr. Obama’s approach will appear as an appealing alternative to President Bush and his choice as a successor, Mr. McCain."
Why not just say:
But Democrats say that in the long run, Mr. Obama’s approach will appear as an appealing alternative to Mr. McCain.
"Well that's what happens when McCain spends two weeks eating shit in the polls."
As a result of four weeks of the press fishing shit out of the sewer to fling at Sarah Palin, all the while perfuming the stack of shit that's the Obama campaign and selling it to Americans as potpourri.
Gee, this is certainly a fecal day at Althouse isn't it?
"Why not just say:
But Democrats say that in the long run, Mr. Obama’s approach will appear as an appealing alternative to Mr. McCain."
Um, because then they don't get to tie McCain to Bush! C'mon, it's not like the media is clever at hiding their scat from the trackers.
* looks up mirabile dictu. *
Speaking of pictures.
Drudge has a very striking photo of BHO in the rain.
Not sure why it's compelling; maybe because he's totally undisturbed, he exudes vitality; maybe because it's hard to imagine McCain duplicating this experience.
sgt,
Feel free to fool yourself into thinking that the McCain stunt was meaningful, just don't expect folks to follow. Even the House Rs who say McCain was helpful have never answered the follow-up questions; "what did he do to push folks toward a solution?"
It's well known that McCain never went on the record supporting anything, he certainly wasn't pushing others to do anything--he couldn't even get himself to sign on to anything. (Tactic vs. strategy indeed.)
On the other side, BHO was first to state what he wanted the bill to do. (Later, McCain adopted BHO's requirements.) And, BHO publicly and unequivocally sunk the bankruptcy provisions that his Party wanted. So, BHO effectively and strongly pushed his Party to the middle to make progress. McCain, nope.
Then, there was the White House meeting where BHO was the one asking if the House R plan could be added to or replace the Paulson framework. He was the one asking Paulson and others how it would work. McCain, silent about the R House plan.
So, BHO is able to work on more than one thing at once. McCain is able to make one fake stunt move at a time.
But, you stick to your talking points.
As a result of four weeks of the press fishing shit out of the sewer to fling at Sarah Palin
I think you mean reporting on Palin's Alaska career and (gasp) interviewing her.
Shorter independents: Do not want!
Has anyone seen or heard from Joe Biden? The country is going to hell and he is missing in action. I thought he was a powerhouse senior senator or something.
He said: "I don't get too high when I'm high, and I don't get too low when I'm low."
Wouldn't that be called "tepid"? McCain's is a loose cannon sometimes, but I'd like a president that didn't labor long and hard to come up with a flawed decision like opposing the surge. McCain went with his gut and made the right decision.
Ann continues to astrotroll her own blog.
Obama shows all the calm of a man with nothing personally at stake - no idea, no position, no plan.
Why should he worry when he knows that he can always adopt some position when things come along.
He'll spin, and weave, and compromise, and blend.
Nothing matters except the need to be accepted. It works well in democracies - always give 'em what they want.
Its Bill Clinton all over again.
(But it is also what the Wall Street executives did - give immediate profits to the shareholder crowds today; damn tomorrow.)
The media's bias is clearly shown through how it uses photos. This has gone on for years (and always, it seems, to the detriment of Republicans). I still remember seeing two, side-by-side photos in the NYTimes that ran in 1973 or 1974: one of Watergate Prosecutor Leon Jaworski and the other of President Nixon's attorney James D. St. Clair: the photo of Jaworski was a "swept up" picture from below, he was clearly all virtue and goodness and ready for battle. The St. Clair photo?: taken from behind, he was hunched-over, walking away from the camera, looking like a man defeated. The contrast - and the intended message - was stark and noticeable even to a 14-year old kid. And these powerful images have remained memorable in my mind 25 years later.
Mirabile dictu is ablative supine, one of a huge list of unnecessary complications. English has done well to replace whom with who everywhere.
"Does that seem like a good idea about now?"
For electoral politics, yes. For the country, no. Obama just left the room where the sh** was flying. Who was he on the phone with, anyway, ACORN? Thanks for nothing, Barry.
America will have to choose between a cool dude and a warrior. I can't wait to say "I told you so."
I think you mean reporting on Palin's Alaska career and (gasp) interviewing her.
The press ruined EVERYTHING!
"Mr. Obama was measured and cerebral and inclined to work the phones behind the scenes"
Instantly thought of volunteers during PBS fund-raising pledge week.
Interesting the appearance this weekend of shit-eating hubris from the Obamatrons.
I'm not sure if this comment is directed at me, but since you quoted me I'm going to assume that it is.
I'm not an Obamatron. I'm not going to be voting for him. I'm just virtually certain he'll win. I never said I was happy about it. (Though I will probably be less upset about it than the average McCain voter represented here.)
I've been reading here for a while, and I enjoy the back and forth in the comments. It's just taken me a little while to work up the courage to join the fray. I like to get a feel for people first. Perhaps my timing in starting to post was unfortunate, but I believe I've said nothing so far which warrants my inclusion as a blind partisan for either side.
I'll say it again; Obama IS Bush. A charismatic empty suit with a claimed reputation of being able to work small rooms and find compromise. Both are empty suits which allow supporters to project whatever they want onto them. Bush ended up being further left and dumber than most Republicans thought. It's obvious that Obama is further left and dumber than most Democrats think.
Last week both candidates stood around looking like deer caught in headlights, not sure what to say about an actual event for which they have responsibilities virtue their jobs. They both parachuted into Washington and then split when they realized this was a no-win, ugly mess. One will be president and they need someone to blame when this thing goes south.
What amazes me is that either candidate could have come out of last week smelling like a rose had they demonstrated any backbone at all. The claim that either had any significant effect on the bill that is being presented now is absurd. The both came off as politically impotent.
Its Bill Clinton all over again.
I see him more as Jimmy Carter than Bill Clinton, though I can't be completely sure about that prediction until he's actually in office.
How, again, is that a "distorted and disturbing" photograph of Senator McCain?
One could as readily say that McCain is shown as engaged and Obama as indifferent.
Forget for a moment about the soap opera.
Consider Sen. Obama's plans for education in this Sept. 7, 2008 NYT article called "24/7 School Reform".
The headline hints at what it will be: 24-hour-a-day education policy.
Have you heard of "The Baby College," which Sen. Obama plans to expand to 20 cities? Avance? Bright Beginnings? Nurse-Family Partnerships, or Early Head Start? Promise Neighborhoods anyone?
Under an Obama administration, education policy will focus not so much on schools but on "heal[ing] the entire community," says Obama. "We're going to have to work with parents" in a system that will involve "even broader cultual change" about the way everyone thinks about poverty.
"A single umbrella integrated social and educational services for thousands of children at once...[including not only schools, but also} a “conveyor belt” of social programs, beginning with Baby College, a nine-week parenting program that encourages parents to choose alternatives to corporal punishment and to read and talk more with their children. As students progress through an all-day prekindergarten and then through a charter school, they have continuous access to community supports like family counseling, after-school tutoring and a health clinic, all designed to mimic the often-invisible cocoon of support and nurturance that follows middle-class and upper-middle-class kids through their childhoods. The goal, in the end, is to produce children with the abilities and the character to survive adolescence in a high-poverty neighborhood, to make it to college and to graduate."
Says one Obama education expert..."Many of the interventions work with parents to make home environments more stimulating; others work directly with children to improve their language development (a critical factor in later school success). All of them, Neuman says, demonstrate impressive results. The problem right now is that the programs are isolated and scattered across the country, and they are usually directed at only a few years of a child’s life, which means that their positive effects tend to fade once the intervention ends."
What does it mean to "make home environments more stimulating?" What is the stimulation? Who pays for it?
Incidentally, here is what a "Promise Neighborhood" is....
"...private/public partnerships, with the federal government providing half the funds and the rest being raised by local governments and private philanthropies and businesses. It would cost the federal government “a few billion dollars a year...”
Your neighborhood...Brought to you by McDonalds, the Pew Center, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and Boeing.
Obama IS Bush
Have you read accounts (more detailed than the WSJ version) of the the White House meeting?
Obama IS NOT Bush.
rhhardin - McCain just looks like what real people look like.
Short, angry, old - with the left side of his face 50% bigger than the right side??
--------------
bearbee said...
"Mr. Obama was measured and cerebral and inclined to work the phones behind the scenes"
Instantly thought of volunteers during PBS fund-raising pledge week.
Similar to my impression. I 1st thought of the image of an image of an Oxford grad from the upper classes with a worthless degree. Who ends up paid by the BBC to give cerebral, snotty, and phlegmatic pronouncements to the unwashed masses.
---------------------
m00se - McCain's is a loose cannon sometimes, but I'd like a president that didn't labor long and hard to come up with a flawed decision like opposing the surge. McCain went with his gut and made the right decision.
Because the one thing America lacks is leadership by a swaggering, abrasive
ex-fighter jock who doesn't think or listen to others, but just goes with his gut.
Oh, we don't lack that?
-----------------------
Then, there was the White House meeting where BHO was the one...
.... BHO is able to work on more than one thing at once. McCain is able to make one fake stunt move at a time.
But, you stick to your talking points.
Talking points, indeed! Well done.
Not sure how you can be so confident of exactly what goes on, off-the-record, in closed-door meetings, but by all means, don't let that stop you. Barack Is The One, Yes He Can! Do It All!
Obama IS NOT Bush.
... he's The One, come on, get it right!
"I've called Obama phlegmatic"
I hope he uses some Vic's Vapor rub for that.
He doesn't want to end up like William Henry Harrison.
Obama shows all the calm of a man with nothing personally at stake - no idea, no position, no plan.
He does not need an idea, plan or position. If he wins, Pelosi will tell him what to do and what to sign. He only needs to be present.
When Obama says that he doesn't get too high or too low isn't he saying that he is immune to hubris? And isn't that immunity itself a form a hubris? Obama is so puffed that he thinks hubris is a form of self-defacement....The problem is not that we all read these biased descriptions of Obama in the papers. The problem is that Obama does.
"Lorelei Leigh, I didn't recognize your name and just assumed you were one of the people who recently decided to pop by and chortle that the election was "over". My apologies. But don't give up yet! That's the goal of the "Obama has won, case closed!" people, to get everyone on the other side to give up before it's even happened.
"I don't get too high when I'm high, and I don't get too low when I'm low."
When you're cool the sun shines all the time.
Obama IS NOT Bush.
My mistake; Obama is the Messiah. Obama's will be done.
My burden is lifted! All praise to Obama. I am saved!
Hey don't be so tough on the new girl Palladian Bissage. Not everyone can post as two differant characters the way you can you big talented lug you.
Obama looks like Vince Vaughn (from Swingers, not the puffy Wedding Crashers Vince Vaughn). He is a "big bear with claws and with fangs," and all those little bunny rabbits are in trouble.
McCain looks like he can't find his way back from the dining room to the dementia wing.
It looks like McCain is asking for another round. Or did someone already say that?
"Hey, bring us some more Coors Lite!"
C'mon, it's not like the media is clever at hiding their scat from the trackers.
Nice line Palladian Bissage, good mental imagery.
"Nice line Palladian Bissage, good mental imagery."
Thank you Lawgiver Lawgiver. Althouse is very shitty today and I'm trying to keep up with the theme.
"McCain looks like he can't find his way back from the dining room to the dementia wing."
Oh, because he's old! I get it! Hahahahaha.
"Lorelei Leigh, I didn't recognize your name and just assumed you were one of the people who recently decided to pop by and chortle that the election was "over". My apologies. But don't give up yet! That's the goal of the "Obama has won, case closed!" people, to get everyone on the other side to give up before it's even happened.
No worries. It was a natural mistake to make. I haven't posted much, and I haven't actually mentioned my candidate preference. Probably because I'm not a strong McCain supporter, even though I am voting for him.
Hope is not something that comes naturally to me, as a cynic. I've always thought that whoever the Democratic nominee was this time around would win, and the past couple of weeks have only solidifed that view in my mind. I'm not completely hopeless about McCain's chances. I'm just preparing myself for the inevitable, and if it doesn't end up happening, then it will be a nice surprise.
Hmm. I thought:
a) The article was quite fair with lots of good stuff for both sides to chew on;
b) The photo comparison favors McCain, who is depicted as a man of action while Obama seems kind of off to the side.
Ultimately, this election will come down to 200 million Rorschach tests. This episode divides us into those who want an activist president who responds to an urgent situation like it's an urgent situation, and those who want someone more reflective who responds coolly and cerebrally to crises--sometimes preferring inaction.
However, I don't get how Obama supports the depiction of McCain's response as "Katrina-like." If Bush had reacted to Katrina like McCain did to the bailout negotiations, he wouldn't be getting pilloried for it today.
Palin remains a bright spot. She has the right instincts and is at worst comedy gold for dialect jokes, and who knows might work out anyway.
Remember The Solid Gold Cadillac.
She's the opposite of Obama and without the pretense, aside from what pretense McCain is unwisely coaching her to acquire.
Roubini this morning:
"The next step of this panic could become the mother of all bank runs, i.e. a run on the trillion dollar plus of the cross border short-term interbank liabilities of the US banking and financial system as foreign banks as starting to worry about the safety of their liquid exposures to US financial institutions; such a silent cross border bank run has already started as foreign banks are worried about the solvency of US banks and are starting to reduce their exposure. And if this run accelerates - as it may now - a total meltdown of the US financial system could occur. We are thus now in a generalized panic mode and back to the risk of a systemic meltdown of the entire financial system. And US and foreign policy authorities seem to be clueless about what needs to be done next. Maybe they should today start with a coordinated 100 bps reduction in policy rates in all the major economies in the world to show that they are starting to seriously recognize and address this rapidly worsening financial crisis."
Hey, we're in "generalized panic mode"!
"I haven't posted much, and I haven't actually mentioned my candidate preference. Probably because I'm not a strong McCain supporter, even though I am voting for him."
This is the reason that McCain isn't doing better; so many of us have the same feelings about him that you do.
"Hope is not something that comes naturally to me, as a cynic. I've always thought that whoever the Democratic nominee was this time around would win, and the past couple of weeks have only solidifed that view in my mind. I'm not completely hopeless about McCain's chances. I'm just preparing myself for the inevitable, and if it doesn't end up happening, then it will be a nice surprise."
Exactly my feelings as well.
Well, the bailout failed to pass the house.
Time to take cover. I'm afraid the House Republicans are likely to get blamed for this.
Lorelei: welcome to the comment section!
I have a great trivia question in regards to your namesake: When Lorelei Lee meets Henry Spofford III the first time, there is music playing in the background. Who composed it?
Uh, just a friendly warning to you all, I tried Googling "Lorelei Lee" 'cause I originally didn't know the movie reference. I got an NSFW eyeful. If you need to find out what MadisonMan is referring to, Google Henry Spofford III instead. Your eyes will thank you.
mcg, yes, I saw that too. I'm not sure who will get the long-term blame -- since if nothing happens, then why will blame be needed? But in the short term, you may well be right.
I haven't seen a roll-call, but I assume that many of the No votes were (R).
It is a NYT photo and so I thought to myself, what is the latest talking point against McCain? It is that he is old. So the NYT photo will have him look old and clueless.
Then I looked at the photo and there he was looking old and clueless. Those folks are so transparent as to be boring.
Trey
Rich Lowry: "A friend on the Hill thinks the harsh partisan tone of [Pelosi's] remarks wasn't helpful."
Gee, ya think?
Final roll call had something like 141 Dems and 66 Republicans voting for the bill. There are 232 Democrats and 199 Republicans in the house. Obviously the Dems could not get enough support within their own party to pass it, but Pelosi was angling for 100 Republicans: had she succeeded, it would have passed. Calling them "unpatriotic" for skipping a meeting they were not invited to was "not helpful."
Madisonman, MCG et al:
According to C-SPAN, the results were:
AYE
205 Total, 140 D + 65 R
NAY
228 Total, 95 D + 133 R
Looks like they're trying the vote again on the same bill, see if people will flip.
Weird.
I wonder what the penalties will be when the Obama Truth Squad goes federal in January?
Pelosi can blame Republicans all she wants, but she also needs to deal with the fact that of the 235 votes cast by Democrats, 40.4% were AGAINST the bill.
Reader: Agreed. There's been a failure of leadership all around here. If there really is a crisis, then Bush, Pelosi, and Boehner have failed to convince the way to stave it off is with this bailout.
Perhaps the photos and the political "coverage" of the campaign are all just an attempt by the NYT to reinvent its "Styles" section. (It could use reinventing.) Politics is all a fashion and flash now -- the ultimate reality show -- and the NYT is there to tell the rubes what's hot and what's not. (That the rubes don't read the NYT is a problem, but the real point of the whole exercise is a kind of inside joke for the cognoscenti.)
Reading the comments today, especially Paladian's scatological cri de coeur for what he thinks may befall America, brought home how completely the two sides are talking past each other. It reminded me of another time in American history when the defining characteristic between the contending parties was contempt bordering on hatred. I was reading Carwardine's bio of Lincoln this weekend, and this passage (at p. 167) seemed eerily descriptive of politics today: "A generation's political competition between Democrats and their Whig/Republican opponents had left a legacy of deep ideological and emotional antipathy, and an inability to see politics in any other terms. One aspect of this 'partisan imperative' ... was the culturally programmed hostility of Democrats to the party of Lincoln."
I don't think it's a good sign that today's political culture bears such a resemblance to the politics of 1861.
My impression is that lawmakers--of both flavors--have been bombarded with reaction from the public (emails, etc.), and mostly against the bailout.
I repeat: A failure of leadership. Bush cried "wolf" one too many times for this one to sink in.
Unless there isn't a crisis, in which case I'm glad the bill failed.
Now, my 401K? That's my crisis.
I'm really not surprised about that given the incredibly oversimplified description of the bailout peddled in the media. To hear it on the street you'd think we're basically doling out $700 billion free and clear to Wall Street. Lost in that description is that we're buying assets that have considerable potential to be worth more than that.
Republican congressman Blunt said he thought he had 12 more votes than he did. That would have been enough.
I have a great trivia question in regards to your namesake: When Lorelei Lee meets Henry Spofford III the first time, there is music playing in the background. Who composed it?
Oh, crap, I don't know. Does this mean I have to leave?
I really should know, but it's been ages since I saw the film that I simply can't call the scene up in my mind.
Coburn support bailout
Too little too late, Tom.
Heritage Foundation backs bailout
Would have loved to see this a couple days ago...
I'm really not surprised about that given the incredibly oversimplified description of the bailout peddled in the media.
Bush should have been giving a national, televised presentation on this crisis every night until this bill passed.
Not to "pile on" the Bush Administration (America's favorite pastime!), for there is plenty of blame to go around--but this marks another massive failure on Bush's part to communicate effectively to the public.
Trooper York said: So the movie we will be watching for the next four years will either be "Top Gun" or "Weekend at Bernies."
Obama's campaign graphics and over reaching to suppress political speech reminds me more of this film.
The day after the election is November 5th, how's that for irony?
I write the above in jest of course, as I firmly believe we will muddle through whatever crisis our bumbling government creates as we have in the past.
However, I am very unsettled by media interference in this election cycle.
History has shown that control over or acceptance by the media of a single political philosophy is inherently dangerous to representative government and those perceived to be outré by the governing elite.
So the movie we will be watching for the next four years will either be "Top Gun" or "Weekend at Bernies."
What happens if you don't like either one?
MASH-UP!
Join us as Maverick and Goose try to hide their dead friend Saddam from their Training Instructor and haul his body around in an F-15 to Iraq so they can use his palaces to score with the hot Iraqi chicks!
The bailout is a miserable necessity. Everyone who gets near it pays a price.
Obama stays away from it, and you say he's "presidential."
Anyone can look serene and "presidential" if they aren't doing anything. Just stand still, look good in a suit, and throw out some sound bites.
Mr. Obama does not tend to take fiery or partisan swipes just for the sake of them....
Excuse me? By all accounts, he torpedoed himself in the Friday White House meeting, trying to control the Democrats in the room.
Meanwhile, McCain coolly observed and heard all points of view.
Only to people who find action to be "hot-headed" would this make sense.
What Obama projects is passivity in public. That's not coolness.
Just to get this straight; Nancy Pelosi says there's "a crisis" and yet doesn't reconvene the house until Thursday. What a coward.
Meanwhile, there's a shit load of small things that could be done independent of a massive spending bill. Instead, our congress is passing bloated continuing resolutions.
And what are Obama and McCain doing? Mumbling in the corner. Hey asshats! How about, I don't know, FUCKING LEADING!
But there's something subtly a[d]mirable in that stolid stability.
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Something a gal could vote for. And will.
The photographs may have been illustrative of perceived and important differences between the candidates, rather than attempting to influence in Obama's favor by portraying him as presidential... but what the heck is this?
...[Obama] "an appealing alternative to President Bush and his choice as a successor, Mr. McCain."
Bush doesn't even LIKE McCain, does he?
I get Obama trying to pair the two at every possible opportunity but he's got a reason to lie about that as the Democrats entire strategy concerning the Republicans has been to run against Bush... again. What is the journalist's excuse?
"I took that comment to mean that Bush prefers McCain to Obama as a successor."
In which case it's a freaking moronic statement.
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