Where's my bail out?

I'm a teacher. I don't have any money. All I have is a few basic assets, and the hope of a somewhat comfortable retirement one day. Is that even a reality any more? Doesn't look like it.

In all honesty, this entire financial crisis frightens the hell out of me, mostly because I can just barely imagine what it means for regular people like me. If we have an economy that was essentially a pyramid scheme or a ponzi scheme, or a shell game or..., then what steps am I going to have to take to protect my financial future? After watching all the "experts" scratch their heads all week about what's going on, unable to truly clarify or explain, let alone predict what's next, I'm left wondering what hope there is for a regular guy like me to figure out what the best course of action is.

Put my head down? Plug away? Plant a "bailout garden" in my backyard?

It is inconceivable to me that these right-wing laissez faire types are able to sell this idea with a straight face. Huge bail outs? Government ownership of AIG? Are they kidding? Why is the socializing of AIG OK, but health care is off the table? Who is going to benefit from this? If the Dems don't dig in their heels and make sure there is some accountability, this is going to be a huge taxpayer pay off to the rich - again. And they will have sold this new scheme to us because "we had no other choice".

So, here's how I understand it. The corporatists have been selling us the American dream, in its current incarnation, for about three decades, which has required extensive credit to acquire. Meanwhile, deregulation of the entire investment/credit industry has allowed some people to get very rich while the average American has gone into record debt. Obviously, the lenders were taking a huge risk in lending out all this money. But it turns out that, at the top, it hasn't been much of a risk at all because they are getting bailed out by the taxpayers - the same people who made them rich in the first place. So they sold us a life of debt then, when it got too risky, got us to assume responsibility for BOTH SIDES OF THE DEBT RISK?!

This is nucking futs!

Well America, we had a good run. Somebody hit the lights on the way out. What's that? The power's been cut? Just as well...

Palin? Is this for real?

When the African-American Democratic candidate draws tens of thousands of people to hear a speech, the Republicans call it "shallow celebrity". But when the woman Republican candidate draws large crowds, they call it "energizing the base".

Is this country serious, or have we simply gone past the point of no return? People are actually excited about a woman who might be the vice president elect in less than sixty days and she doesn't even know what the Bush Doctrine is? Watch her simultaneously bluff her way past her ignorance and still try to sound condescending to Charles Gibson - the only one in the room who knows what the Bush doctrine is.

Watch Matt Damon's response to the idea of Sarah Palin as veep, or worse, as president.



Damon gets it.

And, again with the hypocrisy: Republicans say Barack Obama's religious beliefs are out of the mainstream, but Sarah Palin, who believes that the earth may only be six thousand years old and Adam and Eve must have ridden a dinosaur to work, represents "heartland values".