Althouse: McCain will debate.

September 26, 2008

McCain will debate.

Good call.

He needs a graceful explanation to go with that, but it would have been awful not to show.

Advance warning: I'll live-blog.

216 comments:

«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 216 of 216

Unknown said...: One of the greatest football catches ever; 9/26/08, 4:34 PM
slarrow said...: Well, trying to reset things a little here: I was trying to recall whether McCain said he was going to stay until the bill was signed no matter what (in which case his decision to debate tonight would really be a breaking of his commitment.) So I found a story and watched McCain's 3-minute speech. As far as I could ascertain, McCain is making a conditional commitment: he'll go back in an effort to spur a bipartisan solution, and his team would work with Obama and the debate committee to get it postponed because the financial crisis was more important than having a certain debate at a certain time.

Given that, I think the graceful explanation is that he went to Washington and was able to get some of what he wanted--a meeting with the major players including Obama, more bipartisan inclusion by bringing House Republicans into the mix, etc--but couldn't get it all. He could cite Obama's determination to have the debate no matter what, the whipsaw partisanship of Senator Reid, the pecularity of purely wanting Republican votes for political cover instead of listening to their ideas. Therefore, he's back in Oxford, ready to talk foreign policy.

Given what he's actually said, I think this is a fair response to what's happening. Are there other statements or factors here I'm overlooking that wouldn't make this a fair response? (I'm thinking serious points here, like him saying, "I'm not leaving until there's a deal" or some such. I know some on this board can come up with something snarky--how exciting for them--but I'm trying to clarify here.); 9/26/08, 4:34 PM
Unknown said...: Uh-oh, one Democrat didn't get the Reid memo, and spoke candidly:

Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) on Friday suggested Democratic leaders did not solicit enough input from House Republicans on the financial rescue package.

...

Kanjorski said feedback from the public has been very negative on the bailout. “I think out of 100 calls, approximately, we're lucky if we get one positive call,” he said.

(link, h/t HotAir, RedState); 9/26/08, 4:39 PM
former law student said...: Hmmmm. I think there's a flaw in that logic somewhere.

Yep. Pastor Jeff thinks "anytime, anywhere" really means "all the time, everywhere."; 9/26/08, 4:40 PM
Unknown said...: Well, trying to reset things a little here:

You must be new here :); 9/26/08, 4:40 PM
former law student said...: You know, maybe I'm being a little harsh on Pastor Jeff. Suddenly his POV makes sense.

FLS and PJ are talking...

PJ: FLS, feel free to come over to my house any time.
FLS: Anytime? How about every Friday night for the next three months?
PJ: Sure, no problem. We'll keep the porch light on for you. Do you like salmon loaf, mashed potatoes, and peas?; 9/26/08, 4:53 PM
slarrow said...: New to the comments, not new to Althouse. Every so often I try to delve into intelligent conversation. A fool's errand, probably, but hope springs eternal.; 9/26/08, 5:00 PM
Alice AN said...: Never thought we'd be pinning for Bush? Wait till the neurosis a McCain presidency hits us. At least with Bush we got Steady and Calm.

Strong Economy-Crisis! Fire Someone!
Cancel Debate - Have debate
De-regulator - Populist Regulator

And we wonder why his running mate is confused. Who wouldn't be.; 9/26/08, 5:02 PM
Revenant said...: Do you think Bernard King asking Michael Dukakis what he'd do if Kitty were raped and murdered was fair?

What was unfair about it?

Obviously it was an emotionally touchy question, but Dukakis could have found a way to answer without sounding like a robot. The question was a disaster for him because he basically blew it off.; 9/26/08, 5:10 PM
SGT Ted said...: The Democrats have given their ideas and answers to this crisis: Get enough Republicans on board voting for their stinker of a hand-out so they can share the blame for the Democrats incompetent oversight of the Finance Committee, led by Chris Dodd.

It's so much easier to hammer McCain over BS political accusations than take responsibility for the Democrats failure to lead when given a majority by the American people. This tack is necessary because the Dems have no clue how to fix this and Obama is the worst of the bunch. They Dems have no ideas. All they can do is try to hand-job their leftwing base by obstructing Bush and hope no one else notices just how clueless they are in time for the upcoming election.; 9/26/08, 5:59 PM
Trooper York said...: "Do you think Bernard King asking Michael Dukakis what he'd do if Kitty were raped and murdered was fair?

What was unfair about it?"

It is unfair for basketball players to question political figures. It would be the same thing if Yao Ming asked about our China trade balance of payments.

It's just ain't right.; 9/26/08, 6:56 PM
Anonymous said...: Man, Bill O'Reilly really is Ted Baxter.; 9/26/08, 7:36 PM
Anonymous said...: Ann ought to put a sign on the top page of her blog:

Welcome To Trollistan; 9/26/08, 7:38 PM
Anonymous said...: Holee Schmoley! It looks like McDonalds has got caught up in the subprime mess! See secret memo below.

TO: All McDonald’s Team Members

FROM: Management

RE: New Federal Guidelines in wake of the federal rescue

Dear Team:

As most of you are aware, the past few days have been challenging for all members of the McDonald’s USA and McDonald’s Worldwide Team.

McDonald’s, as you know, maintained a complex and highly-leveraged commodity futures operation, and recent events in the financial markets have made our risk-management strategies impossible to maintain.

All along, as we faced a softening demand for our products and in the wake of our increased exposure to losses in the commodity derivatives market of beef futures, hog swaps, egg instruments, bun swaptions, potato debt flotations, and partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil puts, it was our intention to reach some productive and effective understanding with our creditors and our business partners. Unfortunately, due to market conditions, that was not to be.

Effective close of business today, the McDonald’s Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Federal Department of Agriculture. They wisely — and quickly — stepped in to provide management with a credit facility, in exchange for ownership of the company. If you’ve seen the recent news about what the Treasury Department has done for AIG, the troubled insurance giant, you’ll understand what happened here. It’s basically the same, but with fries.

Many of our newest Team members on the griddle station, or at the Fry-O-Lator, have come to us from senior positions in the old-line Wall Street firm of Lehman Brothers, which recently experienced its own financial crisis. For those of our employees who are confused about the turbulence in the financial markets, we suggest you reach out to these new Team members for a full explanation. During your break.

Until our new management team at the Department of Agriculture forms a plan for the eventual sale and disposal of the company and its assets, it will be business as usual.

That said, we are now a department within the federal government, and we will have to adjust our business practices to reflect that:

The target service time, from the customer’s order at the counter to the delivery of his or her meal, with change. The old target of 120 seconds will be replaced by a new, federal target of three hours.

Ketchup will no longer be available.

Our new hours: 10AM to 3:15PM.

In light of federal diversity programs, all images of the “Hamburglar” will be destroyed. New character images will be delivered to franchisees as soon as possible.

The paper hats will be replaced immediately with OSHA-regulated helmets.

All members of the McDonald’s Team are now members of SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, and as such are no longer required to work while standing or looking directly at the customer. Obviously, this is going to take some getting used to for Team Members used to the “old” way of doing business. Large chairs will be delivered to each location for use behind the counter. Employees will be taught to mumble darkly, and to sigh in an irritated fashion.

The Drive-Thru facility will remain operative in every location for the convenience of the customer, and orders will continue to be taken via the intercom. But in keeping with federal guidelines dictating “convenience,” both the payment window and the pickup window will be permanently shut.

If you have any questions about the above changes, please refer to the leaflet: “So, You’re A Federal Employee! Here’s What You Don’t Have to Do!” which is being distributed by the new managers from the Department of Agriculture.

All of us here in management know this is a trying time for Team Members, and we sincerely apologize for the situation we all find ourselves in — although, frankly, we’ve got it a lot better than our friends at WalMart, who just last week were bought by the Department of Commerce, and who now have to undergo a painful and complicated conversion to the work rules of the Association of Federal, State, County, and Municipal Employees Union (AFSCME).

McDonald’s is a proud American firm. Indeed, for many, we represent America at her finest and most delicious. We are grateful to our partners in the Department of Agriculture for recognizing that McDonald’s, truly, is too big to fail.

We’re all excited about the new, Federally Owned McDonald’s!

McDonald’s Executive Team

(until close of business tonight); 9/26/08, 7:48 PM
Fen said...: Yep. Pastor Jeff thinks "anytime, anywhere" really means "all the time, everywhere."

Right. Obama really meant: "anytime, anywhere... as long as I get to use my teleprompter"; 9/26/08, 8:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Here's some data:

Number of times McCain said "my friends" --- 1

Number of times Obama said "uh..um..ah.." -- 7

Number of times Obama blamed "Bush / McCain" --9

Number of times Obama made faces while McCain was speaking -- 19

Overall, McCain by a Jimmy Durante sized nose, base on his greater depth of knowledge of the military and foreign affairs.; 9/26/08, 9:41 PM