Err, What Does That Plank Say Again?

The Republican Party platform adopted 3 weeks ago explicitly opposes government bailouts of private companies. Here is the pertinent language (from the section titled "Rebuilding Homeownership"):

We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself. We believe in the free market as the best tool to sustained prosperity and opportunity for all.

But true to their elephantine ways, many Republicans (including head honcho W) are not beyond completely abandoning their supposed "principles" to grab more power.

Satire from Roger Ebert

I enjoyed Ebert's piece titled Creationism: Your Questions Answered. He uses creationist's own beliefs to satirically swat them upside the head. Really, it is funny... click over there and read it.

And yes, I know it is satire. Of course, I'm sure the drooling ID fools will try to use it as proof that another intelligent person embraces their stupidity. But one only needs to look briefly at Ebert's writings to understand his intelligence (that is, of a non-designed nature).

The Latest "Nigerian" e-Mail Scam

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

W - Four Massive, Country Changing Failures

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow suggested on Monday that the continuing debate among historians about whether George W. Bush will find a place in the presidential failure hall of fame alongside Herbert Hoover and Warren G. Harding "is over."

"Barring yet another disaster of unimaginable scale, we now know that the presidency of George W. Bush will be defined by four massive, country-changing failures," stated Maddow .

She went on to cite 9/11, the "mendacious launch of the Iraq War," the drowning of New Orleans, and now an economic meltdown in which "we're borrowing $700 billion dollars, probably mostly from China, to stem off utter collapse."

"Eight years, four crises, each one awful enough on its own to brand any presidency an abject failure," Maddow quipped. "And we got them all done with just one guy. Bargain."

McCain to protect offshore tax havens

(Not So) Stupid Church Signs #3

Kudos to the Northwest Assembly of God, for getting it 100% right... albeit, most likely, inadvertently.

But I gotta wonder, what were they thinking? Were they trying (badly) to disparage reason...

Neo-cons and W Privatize Profits and Socialize Losses

The bailout of Wall Street’s largest players by the federal government is another example of the Bush administration pursuing a corporate agenda at the expense of average Americans, a prominent author argued on Friday.

In a Friday night interview on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Naomi Klein said President Bush’s $700 billion proposal to rescue the financial sector stems from a profiteering streak that has dominated the last eight years.

"The disaster is far from over," Klein said. "The disaster was on Wall Street and they have moved the disaster to Main Street."

This cannot continue without bankrupting the US.