snort!

[unusualmusic_lj_archive]

Idiocy taken to its logical conclusion

There is no way to measure the number of people who took out mortgages they knew they couldn't afford, of course, but for what it's worth, a 2007 report by the Mortgage Bankers Association reports that the FBI estimates "80 percent of all reported fraud losses arise from fraud for profit schemes that involve industry insiders." That means the lenders, not the borrowers.

Just imagine the flights of fancy that the theory of borrower malevolence and Wall Street victimization requires conservatives to take: All these no-account folks, you see, got together and forced investment banks to engineer subprime mortgages into highly leveraged securities. Then they tricked all manner of hedge funds and pension funds and financial institutions into buying these lousy products. Just for good measure, these struggling homeowners then persuaded bond-rating agencies to misrepresent the risk associated with these securities.

Now imagine what such a fantastic scheme, if true, would mean for capitalism itself. This economic system, glorified by all, dominates the globe today, bidding prices up and down, forcing entire nations to change their ways to better suit its needs, and yet it is so fragile that when challenged by the weakest members of society and a handful of community organizers it simply crumbles. Thank goodness the Soviets never figured this out.

John McCain:

McCain says Obama lead growing because ‘life isn’t fair’

(CNN) — Sen. John McCain said Thursday that Sen. Barack Obama’s poll numbers are rising as the economy seems to sink "because life isn’t fair."

"He certainly did nothing for the first few days," McCain said Thursday on Fox News. "I suspended my campaign, took our ads down, came back to Washington, met with the House folks and got on the phone, and also had face-to-face meetings."

Whiner and LIAR IN CHIEF From Sept. 25, 2008:

WHAT DOES A 'SUSPENDED' CAMPAIGN LOOK LIKE?.... Just this morning, in New York, John McCain was pretty straightforward about his perspective on the campaign: "I cannot carry on a campaign as though this dangerous situation had not occurred, or as though a solution were at hand, which it clearly is not. As of this morning I suspended my political campaign."
Got it. So, what does a "suspended" campaign look like? As it turns out, it's eerily similar to a regular ol' campaign.
What have we learned since McCain suspended his presidential campaign?
* McCain campaign offices in battleground states are open and operating, just like yesterday.
* McCain's television ads are on the air, just like yesterday.
* McCain media flacks are all over the news networks, just like yesterday.
* McCain's campaign staffers are working, just like yesterday.
* McCain's campaign website is up, soliciting contributions and promoting McCain's message, just like yesterday.
* For the big White House meeting today, Barack Obama was told not to bring any campaign aides, so he's bringing a legislative assistant from his Senate staff. John McCain is bringing a campaign advisor.

John McCain on Gwen Ifill Yesterday:

John McCain NOW

But today, the McCain campaign has decided this nonsense might have an upside after all.

[McCain] seemed more critical of debate moderator Gwen Ifill, who has come under criticism because she is writing a book featuring Obama. Asked on Fox News Channel whether it would work to Palin's advantage because Ifill will be under scrutiny for any bias, McCain answered, "Frankly, I wish they had picked a moderator that isn't writing a book favorable to Barack Obama. Let's face it. But I have to have to have confidence that Gwen Ifill will handle this as the professional journalist that she is."
"Life isn't fair, as I mentioned earlier in the program," said McCain, who is scheduled to hold a rally later today in Denver.

Gwen Ifill book announcement in the Associated Press? JULY 21, 2008

"We have an awkward history about how to talk about race in the nation and in newsrooms," says Gwen Ifill, senior correspondent for PBS'"The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" and author of "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," slated for publication early next year.

Date debate was announced? August 6, 2008

Also, Jamison Foser explained

1) The October 7 presidential debate will be moderated by NBC's Tom Brokaw, who currently serves as NBC's liaison to the McCain campaign -- while spreading pro-McCain misinformation on Meet the Press. In fact, the McCain campaign hand-picked Tom Brokaw to moderate the October 7 debate:

Mr. Brokaw said he had been told by a senior McCain aide, whom he did not name, that the campaign had been reluctant to accept an NBC representative as one of the moderators of the three presidential debates -- until his name was invoked.

"One of the things I was told by this person was that they were so irritated, they said, 'If it's an NBC moderator, for any of these debates, we won't go,' " Mr. Brokaw said. "My name came up, and they said, 'Oh, hell, we have to do it, because it's going to be Brokaw.' "

2) CBS' Bob Schieffer moderated one of the 2004 debates, despite the fact that he is a longtime friend of George W. Bush who had previously acknowledged that his personal relationship with Bush made it difficult to cover him. Schieffer's brother was a business partner of Bush's before Bush became president -- and Bush made him an ambassador.