Madoff wth millions

Bernie Madoff (pronounced "MADE off"), former head of the NASDAQ. A $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Need I say more? Could this guy have a more perfect name?

I mean, sure, the evidence may or may not be there, and there's no guilty verdict by any means. At the same time, it's hard to swallow this kind of news. I think there's a lot more corruption and underhandedness going on behind the economic scenes; the whole system really seems like a big ol' pyramid scheme. Look at property ownership and values -- you have people paying two to three times the monthly payment of their neighbors who bought their homes just five to ten years earlier. That to me makes no sense! The whole flipping of houses that people like to do, the buying the largest house they can afford, all this helps cause the large wave of overpricing that we face these days.

And then these sorts of cronies running stock exchanges. Feh.

Glad I have no investments. But, man, I can't help thinking every now and again that I went to the wrong school of ethics.

Bleep them!

So, it's time to take a quick moment to speak out against Blagojevich. Is it just me, or is this guy the epitome of the corrupt duschbag scumbucket club? Caught on tape trying to sell Obama's soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder, and likely the position left by Rahm Manuel, I'm left to ask - does he get a trial; do we waste taxpayer dollars on this bleeping bastard, or do we just skip the process when the evidence is so obvious?

Rod is a tool.

Another case of misleadership in this troubled representative democracy steeped in centuries of nepotism. With the exception of known national families like the Kennedys or the Bushes, it seems at the state level, this is more easily pulled off. Check your local structure of misleaders for similar names and cross-reference that against the family trees going back a few generations, and you'll see this borne out over and over again.

Let's hope the new administration can move away from this. There are a few more Illinoisians and Chicagoans, Clintonians and other folks being appointed to his cabinet than I would hope to see, but it appears he's taking a what's-best-for-the-country stance on these appointments.

Sarcasm and Air Quotes

McCain's recent air quotes around such terms as "women's health" have been getting to me.

While commuting to an old job in Maryland, I used to drive by a man selling food out of a cart. Sounds like a good idea -- setting up shop in an office park to catch people who don't have time to scoot off to lunch during the day. Thing is, his sign read "BEEF" in quotes. Quotes are a nod to sarcasm, a level of indirection that in the food service industry is scary, leading one to move on to another vendor.

It's scary in politics too. I think it shows a real lack of seriousness with which McCain has taken to the campaign trail. I think people who are seriously watching this have noted this. I hope...

It means he's not really taking anything too seriously. Think of how often his squeaky little chuckle of a laugh surfaces in the middle of important debates. Sure, Obama has smirked a fair amount during debates, but a smirk is a way of holding back "I don't f-ing believe this" as opposed to the sarcastic "so-called" denoted by air quotes.

I still wonder what exact meat that guy was selling. Yes, I'm smirking right now. The bright side is that as of tomorrow night, we'll be able to use air quotes to refer to McCain's "run" for president.

Why the local sports team pandering?

Both sides. Same issue. Both claiming to be fans of each of the teams left in the baseball playoffs. Both full of shit.

This leads me to wonder -- does the outcome of the World Series ever influence the election? For instance, if the series goes to seven games, it'll be decided on the 30th, less than a week before election day. And with so many states allowing early voting, I wonder how many people will vote on a whim, either in-between errands or in the haze of a post-game (or hell, pre-game) hangover.

I'm sure I'm not the first to ask this, but I've yet to see an cogent answer to the question.

I remember four years ago a few of us were hoping for an Astros-Red Sox series, since Bush and Kerry would be to some degree represented by the teams. Then we could settle the election in a best of seven series. At least it seemed amusing at the time.

Maybe it pays to pander. I mean sports fandom is as arbitrarily fanatical as just about anything, including religion and politics.

Why was Joe Lieberman standing next to McCain today?

Is it a show of crossing party lines, being non-partisan? 'Cause Joe's been a Republican for a few years now, so I don't think that's coming through.

Also, so most people even remember him from the last election? I'm not sure why Gore ever chose him as his running mate. I suppose it was for the northeast vote. Well, it didn't work.

And now Lieberman's supporting McCain. The world is a strange place when you're hanging on to you Senate seat for dear life. What will be do in four years when he's out to pasture?

Ugh, Joe. How did you let this happen to yourself?

Who the fuck is Joe the Plumber?

Who is this guy, and why do people give a damn? I mean, really? I think the news outlets spent $700B covering specious issues. Maybe they should've been the ones to pay off the bankers rather than Joe and the rest of us.

I blame McCain for bringing this guy into the fray, and to some (tho a lesser) extent, Obama for picking it up and directing part of his debate harangue at him. Why would he bite on such pandering? Not a tasty worm.

Speaking of worms, I have to complain about Palin today bringing his hypothetical wife Jane into the picture. I have to imagine this will go away in a few days. Hell, this whole nonsense goes away in a few weeks. I can't wait

Honestly, I care more for Mario and Luigi. Those guys represent the voter split - Mario, the Republican, Luigi the Democrat, both secretly Fascists. That's pretty close to the average Joe.

John McCain -- More of the same

So tonight they come on the air and they give us the same stump speeches that they've been giving for weeks. Months in some cases. And that line about education being the civil rights issue of the 21st century. Sounds good, but its meaning is lost in translation. I think civil rights are the civil rights issues of the 21st century. But that's just me.

We can agree to disagree, McCain.

He claims a lot of things are no-brainers. That's great if you think you know everything and aren't willing to work with people who really know what's going on. Sound familiar, eh?

Well, today I learned that Devo is doing a pro-Obama rally of a show in Ohio on Friday the 17th.

Before McCain sits out too long, you must whip it!

Whip it good, indeed. Here's to hoping the spudboys voting this year will turn the tide, ushering in a new era of government. Even if a bunch of detritus washes ashore with Obama, at least he'll make sure it gets picked up. Or we'll revolt, using letter writing campaigns and peaceful means to talk to someone with peace in his heart.

McCain has no peace in his heart. Not the kind I'm after.

Voting will once again be a no-brainer!

wall street and main street

if i hear this term one more time, i'm gonna freak the fuck out. i don't understand what the hell this is supposed to mean or where the hell these people think this main street is, but none of these pundits and politicians seem to know a damn think about what's going on in real america.

so they think that calling it main street they can abstract away the problem. they don't have a damn clue. i have to imagine with the bailout bill on the senate floor tomorrow and with the vp debate tonight we'll hear it a thousand more times before the weekend.

i can't be held responsible for what i'll do if i hear the "wall street / main street" quote once more! honest.

$700bn bailout

Holy simoleons! Welcome to misleadership, a blog all about finding examples of leadership gone awry. Where to start... how 'bout with the largest lead parachutes - yours now for the low-low price of $700bn.

Seriously, folks. Are we going to let this package through our government, given that it'll benefit at most 1% of the people? Are we really willing to pay off these Wall Street cronies who've misabused their power these past 7 years, responding to so-called homeland defense needs? Really?

Seems to me that the large defense contractors and oil companies should be able to flit the bill... didn't Exxon/Mobil ring in over $600bn these past few years. That would do it, costing the taxpayer nothing. It may require some of these execs selling off their off-shore yachts, but that seems only fair since they're the ones who've put us in this position in the first place...

I guess I just don't trust cronies in any form - politician, investment broker, insurance salesman, whatever the guise.