Cary, that was bad advice. LW does not have a responsibility to mediate between his warring parents.

My advice to LW would be that he get a good therapist, and/or if he's religious, have a chat with his clergy. This is a time to stand back, to let go, and to limit the damage.

As for the financial damage these two old fools are doing, that's beyond his power. On the damage limitation front, it might also be good for LW to see an attorney, a responsible member of that profession, and find out if there are things he needs to do to protect himself from legal/financial fallout from his parents' shenanigans.

Great article! More like these, please!

I agree with the folks who are worrying that it's not fair that prudence will be punished by bailouts. It's not one bit fair.

It's also not fair that some folks made a killing on the bubble, selling homes at wildly inflated prices to fools who borrowed too much to pay those prices. Those making a killing include the sellers, the agents, the brokers, the mortgage brokers... might as well toss in the businesses that profited on sales of carpet and paint for all those houses. It was a bubble. This is what happens in bubbles. Some people profit and some get robbed. While it's going on most people celebrate. When it's over, everyone "knew it was coming."

However, life isn't fair. Think it through: if we let all those who were greedy drown in their own mistakes, what will happen to the economy as a whole and to our banking system? We're all in this together, like it or not.

"Fair" in a situation like this is impossible. What we need is leadership which will figure out what will do the least damage to the most people and then move on from there. If some of the cash to pay for it can be extracted from the pockets of those who profited from it, great. I'm not holding my breath.

Oh, and by the by, I didn't profit on the bubble. Didn't get robbed, either, and no, I don't like the idea of my tax dollars going to rescue profiteers and fools. But that beats the heck out of the failure of the whole system.

Thank you, Anne Lamott. I'd already decided to quit talking about her, but I like the rest of your program, too.

I understand that my Irish great-great-great aunt, Great Aunt Katie, having survived the Great Famine, refused to allow the name of Queen Victoria to be pronounced in her presence. She would beginning singing something unintelligible in Gaelic at the top of her lungs every time.

My grandmother always spoke of that with pride. I thought it was nuts. As I've aged I've come to understand that it IS nuts, and that is what is appropriate about it.

Meantime I have sent every dime to fight the fights I hold dearest, and I am plotting to take time off work to work some more.

I heard a spokesperson for McCain fumbling around on NPR this morning, trying to explain what the Republicans have to offer. It added up to "nothing."

I like Obama better and better the longer I watch him, and I can't say I've thought that about a single politician in my adult lifetime (and I'm 53.)

why the Republicans have Carly Fiorina as an advisor to the campaign.

The woman has shown a memorable aptitude for running corporations into the ground, and alienating and/or mistreating people in the process. She's left a couple of GIANT messes in her wake, although she does have a gift for taking care of Carly.

Great article -- I wonder when We the People will finally figure out that this particular form of racy entertainment is destructive of our national life?

I'm glad that you mentioned that a number of Christian denominations as well as the Unitarian Universalists support gay marriage. I wish that you'd included the fact that Reform Jews also support equal marriage rights: both the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis have made their positions on the subject very clear. Over 250 rabbis in California signed a statement opposing Proposition 8, and many of them devoted sermon time or educational time to the issue, as well.