Cash is King

A King of Infinite Space:

A little history on a remarkable year. In 1873, Winchester produced the Winchester 73, "The Gun That Won The West." Col. Colt produced the Single Action Army revolver, probably one of the two most famous pistols of all (the other also being a Colt). And none of that touched The Real Great Depression.

As the panic deepened, ordinary Americans suffered terribly. A cigar maker named Samuel Gompers who was young in 1873 later recalled that with the panic, "economic organization crumbled with some primeval upheaval." Between 1873 and 1877, as many smaller factories and workshops shuttered their doors, tens of thousands of workers — many former Civil War soldiers — became transients. The terms "tramp" and "bum," both indirect references to former soldiers, became commonplace American terms. Relief rolls exploded in major cities, with 25-percent unemployment (100,000 workers) in New York City alone. Unemployed workers demonstrated in Boston, Chicago, and New York in the winter of 1873-74 demanding public work. In New York's Tompkins Square in 1874, police entered the crowd with clubs and beat up thousands of men and women. The most violent strikes in American history followed the panic, including by the secret labor group known as the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania's coal fields in 1875, when masked workmen exchanged gunfire with the "Coal and Iron Police," a private force commissioned by the state. A nationwide railroad strike followed in 1877, in which mobs destroyed railway hubs in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Cumberland, Md.

In Central and Eastern Europe, times were even harder. Many political analysts blamed the crisis on a combination of foreign banks and Jews. Nationalistic political leaders (or agents of the Russian czar) embraced a new, sophisticated brand of anti-Semitism that proved appealing to thousands who had lost their livelihoods in the panic. Anti-Jewish pogroms followed in the 1880s, particularly in Russia and Ukraine. Heartland communities large and small had found a scapegoat: aliens in their own midst.

The echoes of the past in the current problems with residential mortgages trouble me.

'Cash is King,' I have read in several pieces on the potential for an economic downturn. But how wide a kingdom will it rule? That's a thing yet undetermined.

GO SEE APPALOOSA THIS WEEKEND

GO SEE APPALOOSA THIS WEEKEND

After I returned from Iraq a little over a year ago my wife and I celebrated with a vacation to Mexico.  While I was waiting in the airport I stopped by a book store to pick up something to read on the plane.  The book that caught my eye was Appaloosa by Robert Parker.  It turned out to be a great choice.  I devoured the book in no time flat.  In fact, I enjoyed the book so much that I immediately bought the sequel, Resolution, when it was released.

Consequently, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Appaloosa has been made into a movie and is being released nationwide this Friday.  Early reviews say that the movie follows the book very closely, which is good.

If you like a good western then this movie is a must see.  Western themed movies are an iconic slice of Americana.  Robert Duvall once said that Westerns were America’s unique contribution to film and literature. He said that no ones does Shakespeare like the British and no one does westerns like America.  So, do your patriotic duty and see this movie.

Gov. Palin

Gov. Palin on Her Nomination:

Gov. Sarah Palin has given an exclusive email interview to The Frontiersman. One exchange stands out. She was asked if she had been prepared for the media attacks on her family.

Nothing really prepares you for hatred and made-up stories. But it’s nothing like the hard times of a family that’s lost a job, lost health insurance, or lost a son or daughter in battle.

I would hope that the privacy of my children would be respected, as has been the tradition for the children of previous candidates. Obviously, it hasn’t been so far.

I think part of the media frenzy is because I haven’t been a part of the Washington establishment and that I’m not as well known to the powers that be in Washington. I’m not going to win over anyone in the media elite — I’m going to do my best for the American people.

And of course all candidates want to shield their children from the rancor and bitterness. My personal e-mails being hacked into really took the cake because of all the violation of confidence and privacy that others felt when they saw the e-mails they sent to me were posted on Web sites around the world.

Concern for my family’s safety was also paramount because pictures and contact information for my kids were published and their receipt of all the harassing calls and messages has been very concerning.

It is amazing what has been aimed at her and her family in this time. Of course, once in a while a more honest portrayal breaks through -- even if it has to be given a hostile headline. BlackFive co-blogger Frosty writes:

A Mountain Man/Fisherman and his Mountain Woman/Governor. I don’t think First Dude is an accurate term for a guy who races in the snow 2000 miles, the last 400 on a broken arm, or who fishes in the Gulf of Alaska with 20 ft seas during the season. First Stud, maybe. Not First Dude.

That's certainly part of the Palins' appeal. Some of us look at that kind of thing with respect and admiration, rather than envy.

What did Eric say?

What Was That Thing Eric Used To Say?

Via Reason, which is on the same page as our Mr. Blair.

GHMC: Broken Arrow:

So, what did you think?

TSIR

Truth Squad Incident Report:

I see that they have an online form to ease the process of reporting violations. I trust everyone will follow the links before choosing a 'violation' to report.

H/t: InstaPundit, who has some additional updates.

OBAMA CAMPAIGN ADOPTS POLICE STATE TACTICS TO SUPPRESS DISSENT

OBAMA CAMPAIGN ADOPTS POLICE STATE TACTICS TO SUPPRESS DISSENT

The Obama Campaign has recently adopted a truly frightening tactic in Missouri.  Obama’s campaign is assembling a group of sympathetic prosecutors and law enforcement agents to “target” anyone they think is lying or misleading the public about Obama and his positions.  If this intimidation tactic didn’t smack of fascism by its very nature, the title of this group, The Barack Obama Truth Squad, should dispel any lingering doubts.  You can watch a local news report about the group here.

The brazen nature of Obama’s ploy is amazing.  There is only one reason why Obama would want to assemble a “Truth Squad” comprised solely of prosecutors and law enforcement agents: he wants to quash all dissent through naked intimidation.  If all Obama wanted was volunteers to engage the public and challenge the assertions of the opposing candidate he could do so with anyone.  But that is not what Obama wants.  He wants people with a badge, gun, and/or the power to prosecute going after anyone that says something critical of of the Obamessiah.  I find it amazing that liberals will go in to spasms of rage over supposed threats to civil liberties in The Patriot Act (a law designed to stop terrorists) yet have no problem with the “Truth Squad’s” attempt to crush political dissent. 

At least the Governor of Missouri gets it.  Read his statement here.

Talk about liberal fascism.  Sieg Heil, Big smile.

Cross posted at Souther Appeal.

Goodnight, Mr. Newman:

We'll remember you this way:



Newman's two greatest films were in company with Robert Redford, the famous Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid and the less famous -- but equally good -- The Sting.

In both roles he played a criminal, one who used not violence but cleverness and charm to rob and steal. Indeed, his characters attempted to use their talents to limit the violence inherent in the world they inhabit.



In life, he used his cleverness and charm instead to create charitable foundations. Here as in the films, he used his talent to limit the hardships that inhabit the world.

UPDATE: Greyhawk adds some details I didn't know: that Mr. Newman was a torpedo plane gunner and radioman in WWII's Pacific theater. He was decorated with the American Area Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

Some Economics:

Ten minutes, but worth it if you haven't seen it:



If, like me, you are spinning up on things like "Credit Default Swaps" for the first time, you may find this post helpful.

Debate

The First Debate:

It appears that the general consensus is that your guy won, whoever 'your guy' is. Obama supporters point to the focus groups, which suggest that he did well among undecideds, chiefly because they liked his economic answers better, and the economy is big-time #1 on people's minds right now. The actual subject of the debate, foreign policy, was a McCain winner.

Sixty-six percent of uncommitted voters think Obama would make the right decisions about the economy. Forty-two percent think McCain would.

Forty-eight percent of these voters think Obama would make the right decisions about Iraq. Fifty-six percent think McCain would.

So, what are the 'right decisions' about the economy that Sen. Obama stated he would make? Well, spending: 'spend, spend, spend, no freeze on spending, and here's a few more spending programs I'd like to do.'

The problem is, that decision is at variance with basic reality. Assuming there is no bailout bill, the economy could turn south in a severe and lasting way, drying up the taxpayer pool. Assuming that there is a bailout bill in the next little while, the government's capacity for such new spending is going to be quite limited. Once we've added $700B to this week's budget, just where is this additional money coming from? McCain's approach -- that we will need to cut or at least freeze spending levels on noncritical programs -- is not just right, it's necessary. There is no alternative.

McCain supporters point to the fact that Obama got flustered numerous times, and was clearly out of his depth on foreign policy issues. The problem for Sen. McCain here is that no one is thinking about foreign policy this week. However, if the bailout gets credit flowing and things start to improve financially, attention may return to it before the election -- this is a store of goods that may yet prove more valuable.

First impressions of the debate are rarely lasting. Given time to reflect, things that sounded good at first may sour. McCain's campaign would do well to hammer not just the point they've been hammering -- that Sen. Obama said 'McCain is absolutely right' a bunch of times -- but also the point that there is just no way that Sen. Obama can actually do what he's claiming he will do economically.



Sen. Obama's response to economic distress is to ramp up spending in every area. This isn't merely 'countercyclical' economics: we're getting that with the $700B bailout. Trying to stack vast new spending on top of that is a refusal to admit to reality.

Finally, a number of people are talking about the OODA Loop again:

John McCain out-thought Barack Obama early on, and increased that throughout the debate.

I don't pretend to know if John McCain is smarter than Barack Obama, but in their first head-to-head, it was clear that thinks faster on his feet.

Looking back through the campaign season at the various "3 A.M." moments and the candidate's reactions, this doesn't appear to be an isolated event.

As we've discussed before, Sen. McCain's reported IQ is reasonably high: at 133, in the 98th percentile. It wouldn't be at all surprising if he were more intelligent than Sen. Obama, because he'd be more intelligent than most people.

That doesn't necessarily translate into votes. Still, Sen. McCain manages to be intelligent without being pretentious, and that can be powerful with voters. No one wants a dunce for a President, but they also don't want someone who thinks he knows better than they do how to run their lives.

Message for tonight: the economy is #1, and for now voters haven't realized just how big $700B is, and how it will cut into future government spending. We can't have it all, and will have to prioritize. Sen. McCain promised to do that. Sen. Obama refused.

Foreign policy is almost considered a distraction at this point, but it will be important in the next term. On that ground, Sen. McCain is vastly superior.

GHMC: BA

Grim's Hall Movie Club: Broken Arrow

I would like to nominate this movie, available online for free, as the newest entry. Let us discuss it on Monday.

Smallness

Smallness:

FbL at The Castle points to this story:

CBS New anchor Katie Couric ordered staff to drop all references to "Governor" or "Gov." from her interview with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. When a staff member pointed out that in other venues, Couric and CBS News had referred to Governor Palin's opponent, Joe Biden, using his title of "Senator" or the abbreviation, Couric, according to a CBS News editorial aide, sought approval from CBS News management to drop the "Governor" reference during her broadcast interview with Palin that began on Wednesday night.

FbL says, "[Y]ou gotta laugh at the smallness of it all."

Maybe. Even I refer to Sen. Obama with his title, and I have come to despise him and think him unfit to speak in the company of men. In spite of my powerful feelings of disdain, however, I don't deny him the honor given him by the people of Illinois.

Gov. Palin is treated with a special hate by the media. It's not the "Liberal Media," either: it's the Beltway conservative media as well. It's the media generally.

You would be hard pressed to find a journalist whose actual accomplishments in life were half of hers. They may be able to speak eloquently on a given subject, whether it is the difference between Sunnis and Shi'ites or the exact calibrations of the various Bush Doctrines. Yet which of them has accomplished so much, or half so much?

Forgive them, though, if they don't feel she merits even her current title -- the one already achieved in an honest election. Forgive them, for they know better than the people of Alaska, or than us.

Obama Gardens

"Obama Gardens"

I like Hot Air's take on this story as well. As a state senator, Obama got a hundred grand from taxpayers to build a botanical garden in his district:

A $100,000 state grant for a botanic garden in Englewood that then-state Sen. Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general amid new questions, prompted by Chicago Sun-Times reports, about whether the money might have been misspent.

The garden was never built. And now state records obtained by the Sun-Times show $65,000 of the grant money went to the wife of Kenny B. Smith, the Obama 2000 congressional campaign volunteer who heads the Chicago Better Housing Association, which was in charge of the project for the blighted South Side neighborhood.
Smith wrote another $20,000 in grant-related checks to K.D. Contractors, a construction company that his wife, Karen D. Smith, created five months after work on the garden was supposed to have begun, records show. K.D. is no longer in business.

Eighty-five percent of the funds wound up going no farther than the pockets of Obama’s campaign volunteer. Chris Fusco and Dave McKinney track down the contractor who supposedly got most of this funding to find out what happened. He told the Sun-Times reporters that he only was asked to cut down a few trees and to grade the surface of the park, which would have been overpriced at $3,000. So what happened to the other $82,000? No one knows, and the Smiths don’t have any explanation.

Oops?

McCain/Clinton

The McCain/Clinton Economic Recovery Act of 2008:

What are the prospects for Senator McCain -- the most successful Senator in living memory at reaching across the aisle -- will provoke a compromise bill that will please both parties and pass the Congress at this time? I think you can look at these statements for some evidence:

[Bill Clinton], just a week after calling McCain a “great man” and mere hours before stressing how “personally, profoundly honored” he is to have him speak at his charity....

The best part of this isn’t the “good faith” bit but his point — which he repeats, so that no one misses it — that Maverick actually wanted more debates, not less. That’ll be a handy riposte tomorrow if McCain ends up skipping out and the left starts accusing him of being scared.

So, which is more likely: that McCain and Sen. Clinton will be the ones who put together the compromise bill (next week's headline today: "Markets Soar as McCain/Clinton Act Signed Into Law")? Or that the threat of such a bill will push Reid, Pelosi et al into a compromise today?

Mother on Palin

A Southern Lady on the Media and Sarah Palin:

About once an election cycle I mention my mother, whose views on politics always interest me. She is one of those undecided voters most years, a swing voter who can be persuaded to support either candidate usually until the last (and even then, with some uncertainty: as she said tonight, she is glad that there are millions of others also casting votes, as she doesn't want to be the one who decides for us all).

She's still not at all sure who she'll vote for this year, but she was not happy with the way that CBS treated Sarah Palin. Two excerpts will explain her irritation. One, from Couric's interview with Palin:

Couric: If this doesn't pass, do you think there's a risk of another Great Depression?

Palin: Unfortunately, that is the road that America may find itself on. Not necessarily this, as it's been proposed, has to pass or we're going to find ourselves in another Great Depression. But, there has got to be action - bipartisan effort - Congress not pointing fingers at one another but finding the solution to this, taking action, and being serious about the reforms on Wall Street that are needed.

And two, from Couric's interview with McCain:

Couric: Earlier today, senator, I spoke with your running mate, Sarah Palin, and she told me that if action is not taken a Great Depression is, quote, "The road that America may find itself on." Do you agree with that assessment?

McCain: I don't know … if it's exactly the Depression. But I know of no expert, including Mr. Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve, and our secretary of treasury, and the outside observers ... every respected economist … in this country is saying, "You better address this problem, and you better do it now, or the consequences, obviously, of inaction are of the utmost seriousness." So I agree … with Gov. Palin. There's so much at stake here. That's why I am confident that we'll sit down and work together on this thing.

Couric: But isn't so much of this, Sen. McCain, about consumer confidence?

McCain: Sure.

Couric: And using rhetoric like the "Great Depression," is that the kind of language Americans need to hear right now?

Well, Katie, is it? You brought it up.

The AP went hook, line and sinker, of course.

Now that's a Priest

"May God Defend the Right"

A priest in Australia was confronted by a robber with a knife who had broken into the church. After the backside-kicking, the robber said: "I only wanted money … you're a priest and you're not helping."

The priest told the press, "I thought: 'I'm a priest but that's not the kind of help [we should give].'"

Oh -- and the priest is 72.

H/t: FARK.

An Argument in Pictures

An Argument in Pictures:

Via Southern Appeal, two pictures that accompanied an endorsement.

What's great about these images is that they work no matter which side you're on. If you are a liberal who wanted to endorse Sen. Obama as a sensitive, caring, gentle soul with echoes of Lincoln -- and to reject Gov. Palin as a bloodthirsty monster -- it works for you.

On the other hand, if you're a conservative who wants to endorse Gov. Palin as an outdoorswoman, mother and huntress -- and reject Sen. Obama as a pretentious light-in-the-loafers sucker apt to be run over by terrorists and Iranian nuke-mongers -- it works for you too. The same two pictures encapsulate everything that supporters love, and everything opponents detest, about the two candidates.

You can't say we don't have a clear choice this year. Except that, again, Gov. Palin is running for vice president -- an office that Sen. Obama is somewhat more qualified for than the one he has chosen to seek.

Obama: Already the President

Obama: Already the President

Dad29 points us to Obama's new coinage.

Democrats have begun striking coins with Barack Obama’s profile — and already proclaiming him President.... The coins show Senator Obama’s face, along with a picture of the White House and the legend “President of the United States of America”.

The link points to Hot Air, which says: "Barack Obama may be the first person in history to start striking coins in his image before taking power. Maybe he just wants to look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills[.]"

Yeah, maybe.

Munson

In Praise of Larry Munson:

Some of you probably saw this in the comments, but Mike informs us of the retirement of the voice of the Bulldogs. Larry Munson is the kind of announcer who never made any pretense to objectivity, but loved his team and the game with unreserved passion. Autumn won't be the same without him. He is 86, so we understand, but today is a sad day for football in America.

ATL

ATL @ WRK:

Fulton County, home of the Atlanta public school system:

H/t: FAILblog.