Interview someone sane

Does Mark Preston ever talk to a Democrat? Or even a sane Republican?

Ben Stein thinks:

• Karl Rove is the answer.
• Phil Gramm had the psychological recession right.
• Obama's ability to draw a crowd is anti-democratic.
• Evolution is wrong, even though he doesn't understand anything else about it.
  

Preston thinks Stein is well informed, on the basis of speech-writing for Nixon and Ford thirty-five years ago. In fairness, Stein does notice that McCain is running a "pathetic" campaign, but you'd have to be stone dead or Tucker Bounds not to notice that.

Update: For snark, please try "Seeing blue". For something much more serious, try "Killing liberals".

$200 billion for a one-day rally

The financial panic is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Billions, even trillions (that we don't have) to bail out speculators who are too big to fail without the whole house of cards coming down. $1000 for an ounce of gold. $110 for a barrel of oil.

What lessons did we learn at such great cost in the 1930s? Bueller? (And it's so appropriate to quote a free-market apologist like Ben Stein on the topic.) Anyone?

Well, we're about to learn all over again the consequences of creative pyramids of debt, allowed by loosing the masters of the universe on the markets with no effective regulation.

One other parallel: The Federal judiciary is packed with reactionaries who will hamstring responses from the legislature and the executive.

Update: Paul Krugman says the price tag is $400 billion. Let's hope we get a little more than a one-day visit from a financial Kristen (11/8: Ashley Alexandra Dupré) for that chunk of change.