ABC News: Yet Another Network Nailing McCain

Republicanism is done. Soundbytes are the norm, feast on these videobytes:

• "Mr. Deregulation" McCain broke down the long standing firewalls in the 90's that enabled the Banks, Investment Houses and Insurance Companies to morph into the Wall Street house of cards situation we have now. His mentor Phil Gramm's legacy, too.
  
• As George Will points out, McCain, who now sees regulation as the answer, has a "conversion of convenience". The kind of conversion that happens in literally one day that one would have after maybe a single conversation. That's a principled leader!
  
• On March 25, 2008 McCain was calling for more Wall Street deregulation. Out of touch, foot on the conservative peddle, ramblings of a confused old man.
  

Reagan's Words Ring Hollow, Yet Scary

As I reflect on modern day Republicanism and it's mass failure to "help" America, I think back to their halcyon days of yesteryear. According to Conservatives and Republicans, Ronald Reagan, circa 1980, said the scariest words were: "I’m from the government, and I’m here to help." Seems that sentence is the slogan de jour for the GOP in these financially tough times. How do they explain George W. Bush's administration bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, injecting massive capital into Wall St failures and buying insurance giant AIG? Seems all that small government, "let the markets adjust" economic rhetoric is complete bullshit for these guys. The US is a socialized country when it comes to large failures, spread the pain. But when it comes to profits, it's all about privatizing it for the well off. Fair play. But don't call it capitalism. It's not. True capitalism would tear this country to pieces.

But I guess Reagan's words were right in the sense the government will "help" you lose your rights, they can now wiretap you, spy on you, detain you forever, torture you, suspend habeas corpus, have Michael "Heckuva Job" Brown show up after a hurricane, have mental midget Alberto Gonzales protect your rights, have John Bolton represent you in the UN, and the list of Republican "help" goes on. Government is inefficient, I get that. But the Republicans have made it incompetent. Big difference.

So take that big incompetent government you're supposed to hate, even though it bails you out at every crisis, and think if the Republicans got there way, Reagan's words would mean, "I’m from the government, and I’m here to make you have a baby because I've taken your choice away. You have to have this baby." Imagine a more personal decision that the government wants to make for you? You don't decide, the government already did for you.

Stay free, vote Obama.

Lack Of Tranparency

I keep hearing about the smart guys on Wall St losing so much money because of a lack of transparency and greed. Lehman Brothers and AIG are the biggest victims today making the news cycle, but I see this in a broader symbolism, as a mirror of the Republican mindset under Bush and Cheney. They used secrecy, shadow governments and "black ops" to get their agenda past the masses in an attempt to grab as much power as they could. Like the unregulated markets they champion, the GOP tried to exploit their collective lack of oversight, at the same time changing the three branch rule of law to tip in their favor through enhanced presidential powers [Unitary Executive Theory]. Bush would never call out Rumsfeld or Condi Rice as failures, Cheney's power was protected by all. They were living a dream where facts went unchecked and loyalty trumped competence.

And just like the old Wall St companies being brought to their knees by this lawless hubris, the Republican brand will enter a moral Chapter 11 for the next few years, destroyed by Bush/Cheney leveraging the Rove-style politics of culture wars and not properly using risk analysis with their foreign policy that has trapped the US in costly endless wars. The value they has in 2000 and 2004 are like worthless paper these days. The Republicans used margin buying on 9/11 and exponentially used fear to stay in power. Those days are over.

America expects more and their mandate will bring Barack Obama to the White House.