50% chance?  Of what - a recession so extreme that it even penetrates the American Hologram fantasy world of the GOP?

And by once-in-a-century, he must mean “if the business cycle were the dominant factor rather than extreme financial mismanagement of the economy and rampant out-of-control spending for eight years on shit that doesn’t help OUR economy?”

This is the week we turn the corner. The Palingasm is ending.

I am pretty certain that we already are in a recession, arbitrary definitions based on consecutive quarters of declining growth notwithstanding.

The only reason we grew last quarter was because of the “stimulus” checks, which 1) you can’t do every quarter and 2) fuels inflation.

That ad fucking rocks.

That is his best ad to date.  It’s about fucking time.

I agree it’s about time Obama got tougher.  The lipstick on a pig comment last week was the beginning of it.

Given his history of doing things like getting rid of most of his opponents by getting them removed from the ballot, I knew Obama wasn’t going to take it all quietly - he would just take McCain out in his own way. 

Of course, the very real pain of an incredibly botched economy meant that the stupid will wear thin more quickly than in other years.

Wow, I just read at Politico that McCain said “the fundamentals of our economy are strong”—this morning.

What a disgraceful ad.  You know, for 5-1/2 years, McCain didn’t have a chance to make any dishonest statements and put out any sleazy ads, because he was languishing in a Vietnamese prison.  He was a POW, did you know that?  Most people don’t, because he doesn’t like to talk about this experience, but it’s true, look it up.

I find it curious that Greenspan is saying all this now, when he’s the one that was at the helm of this financial crisis saying that the ridiculous tools banks were using to giving everybody and their dead grandmothers mortgages were a-ok.

:::gives Greenspan hella side-eye that says he’s part of the damn problem:::

From the Associated Press:

“Our economy, I believe, still, the fundamentals of our economy are strong, but these are very very difficult times, so I promise you: We will never put America in this position again. We will clean up Wall Street,” McCain said.

He added: “The McCain-Palin administration will replace an outdated, patchwodk quilt of regulatory oversight and bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street. We will have transparency and accountability and we will reform the regulatory bodies of government.”

Raise your hand if you think McCain/Palin are capable of transparency and accountability in anything, save their naked ambition and arrogance.

Give ‘em hell, Barack!

Another ad tying McCain to lobbyists - including a lobbyist for large banking interests.

Seriously, I would pay $100 bucks to hear McCain list which fundamentals he’s referring to.

I could easily afford this if I had a nickel for every time someone insisted the GDP grew, so therefore our economy was super-duper-great!

INTPagan, earlier I did the same trick in comments (as ballasog) on this Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieuA7nAOBXQ&feature=email

The reactions were very funny to watch, my initial comment got downrated to -9, but then others who understood what I was doing brought it up to +1.  Somebody mentioned Poe’s Law to me, and somebody else said they didn’t blame the people who didn’t get it, because you do find people who say the exact same thing but are in deadly earnest.

I knew it was “ironic” when you went over the top with “didn’t you know” and “look it up”, as the POW thing is something everybody knows at this point!

If we’d implemented the Social Security plan that McCain wanted the current mess on Wall Street would be wiping out people’s retirement funds.

Ms. Kate, I said “did you know,” not “didn’t you know”.  That’s even more over the top than “didn’t you know,” because “didn’t you know” makes a presumption that you did know or should know, but “did you know” doesn’t make any such presumption.  And I did that on purpose.

I have used “Get a brain!  Morans!” and that worked pretty good some time ago, but more recently I tried it and people didn’t pick up on it, I guess too much time has elapsed.  And “did you know he was a POW” is more immediately relevant to the matter being discussed.

I’m not sure I’d be beating down the doors with Greenspan’s words. He’s the dope that allowed this crisis to fester. Bernanke’s no genius, nor am I any real fan of his, but he’s more or less having to deal with the repercussions of Greenspan’s policies. Greenspan can see the once in a century crisis now, how come he missed it when he was in power?

http://thesebastards.blogspot.com/

I’m not sure I’d be beating down the doors with Greenspan’s words.

I would be, but it would be Greenspan’s doors, and I’d have a bunch of peasants with pitchforks and torches behind me.

Seriously, for all the mockery that Sofia Coppola took for being out of touch because she made Marie Antoinette, it’s starting to look more and more prescient by the day.

This is the week we turn the corner. The Palingasm is ending.

Pardon me, but I point out that there is a classic response of right-wing governments to economic crisis.

And after eight years of Bush, I think it’s obvious that the whole “Ein Volk, Ein Fuhrer, Ein Reich” thing isn’t too far away from American consciousness.