Given Bush’s record on Valerie Plame, Wilson Plame, Tenet, Sandy Berger, Dick Clark… no, he wouldn’t have to be in on a conspiracy. Mutual interests serve alliances far better than conspiracies ever did.

I’m still going with ineptitude, corruption, short-term greed, and a total lack of long-term wisdom.

October will give us the surprise people have been talking about. We’ll see then what is going on.

I do agree that the creation of a crisis is part of the radical modus operandi.

But I’m not at all convinced it applies in this case. Wouldn’t President Bush and Hank Paulson have to be in on the conspiracy?

I’m still going with ineptitude, corruption, short-term greed, and a total lack of long-term wisdom. And for me this applies to all of Congress, Executive Branch financial “wizards”, and Wall Street.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/barack_obama_and_the_strategy.html

From the get-go, I’ve been suspicious of the attempted stampede. Felt to me like The “Big Con” featured in the film “The Sting” (since we are remembering Paul Newman).

I think in addition to the bailout crisis, Global Warming is another manufactured crisis designed to pave the way for Socialism. How many others can you think of?
HIV (other than in Africa)?

Ellie

Excellent post.

I understand that many hands are dirty in this mess, including regular Americans who bought what they could not afford. But after watching Pelosi today, I just wanted to spit. That woman and the folks in her party are a DISGRACE.

I have to admit it – there is a tiny part of me that sort of hopes Obama wins come November. God help me – I know it is totally irresponsible – but then the Democrats wound own it all. Maybe the U.S. needs to get a good hard look into the abyss and then people will grow up and get serious.

Deana

Again and again on the news I have heard today that we have suffered “the worst drop in the stock market in history”.

We lost (I believe) 600 points today on about 11300, or a 5.3% drop. That’s no fun , but it’s not the worst.

In the 1987 crash, we lost 20% of the market value in one day. And these last few years we’ve regularly seen 200 point swings due to automated trading and other severe forces on the market forcing wild swings even on a “normal” day.

This irritates me as much as those who say ‘The Dark Knight’ ranks as the second highest grossing movie of all time. Technically true, but due to inflation, totally irrelevant. It’s actually sitting at about #27 once you adjust for inflation. That makes it culturally relevant, but not even as relevant as “Thunderball”.

Maybe it’s not off-topic after all. Book’s post is abort the distortions of half-truths, of how the Democrat Black Caucus slanted the truth. As Congress rushes to protect itself and plays its games. My God, I hope people are genuinely watching and judging.

Something especially egregious occurred today when Nancy Pelosi stepped before the microphone, soon after the Democrats held their cheering, smiling, grinning press event. Having spent the better part of days trying to craft bipartisan support for this bill, she proceeded, before the vote to blame the Republicans for everything under the sun that might possibly be wrong, including the fact that they are to blame for your dog’s diarrhea this evening. And she did so in the harshest and most disdainful of terms.

And the vote went down in defeat and now, where are all those smiles and grins?
What in the world was she thinking? How unserious can they be, switching back to assassination politics… not moments AFTER the vote, which would have been crass enough, but even before the vote. How utterly unserious, how daft. How… extraordinarily incompetent.

And what was the purposes of all the smiles and grins and standing ovations, if the votes hadn’t been canvassed yet even in private? How incompetent.

It’s more like the Claude Raines character in Casablanca who shuts down Rick’s because there is gambling going on — just as the croupier hands him his winnings! Ok boys and girls, altogether now …ready?

“I’m shocked!!!!!”

Ellie

While it is true that there is plenty of blame to go around, you gotta admire Bambi’s extraordinary talent for graft: in just *3 years* he nearly caught up to Dodd’s take which took nearly *20 years* to accumulate! (Note report period is 1989-2008)

Ellie