Just a little hyperbolic venting. WWII or WWI hard to say what really defines a superpower anyway much less a proper timeline for becoming one. The limits of America's power or inability to project power morally and cost effectively(militarily and economically) have been exposed to the "disinfecting power of sunlight."

I'm a peaceful man who believes war is outdated and that soft power, exportation of education, and good parts of our culture (liberty, rule of law, personal responsibility, work ethic, innovation) are the way to lead the world not by amoral military adventurism serving one purpose i.e. to bankrupt us and make us fearful and ignorant of our fellow human citizens. Stop meddling in others business, quit economically exploiting everything under the sun for the benefit of the oligarchs, and maybe the world becomes a little better cleaner place.

I know not really the type of disciplined intellectually rigorous comment that passes for discourse around here but I'm feeling all meta and shit.

I personally don't think letting these "houses of cards" fail is all that big a deal. Pump the money up through the bottom, keep people in their homes, and avoid foreclosures yada yada yada. My credit union is in great shape and I don't have anything in the markets anyway so I could care less other than my parents and friend's parents have money in the markets as a consequence of 401k's.

Taking America down a peg could unleash the true creative power of America or it could spiral us into the abyss. I wouldn't choose to speculate at this point. Either way the bailout plan stinks.

that was a righteous smack down. 9000 banks in America, plenty in the black willing to lend to qualified businesses and invididuals who have viable means to make the payments with a little vig tacked on.

This is a manufactured crisis and the bailout is strictly another last blast wealth transfer to the kleptocrat class if they can get away with it . . . which they will because the "center" in American politics are "teh stoopid" unprincipaled drooling stooges of the corporate/investor classes.

It seems like ancient history already that I was hopeful when Parkensonian Nancy was "elevated" to a position of power. In hindsight picking a grandma and quintessential big business tenured political family insider occupying one of the formerly safest seats "ehhhvaar" in House was simply political calculation designed to insulate Dems complicity in the 8 year sell out of our economy, democracy, and rule of law.

Seriously, other than neocon nutjobs and Code Pinkers nobody wants to place the blame squarely on grandma and grandpa's shoulders i.e. Nancy and Harry and their inability to effectively message a frozen dog turd much less engage in astute politics by acting as if they are actually the majority party (however slim) in a coequal branch of government. I don't like simple explanations but there is one immutable truth that GG has made abundantly clear over the last 2 years . . . these people are either the most politically inept and teh stoopidist unprincipaled stooges on the planet or they are bought and paid to do something other than the people's business.

This "bailout" was green lighted by bipartisan leadership months ago, and like their many many other "hard fought" political capitulations--a fait accompli. The ensuing bipartisan debate on this situation will be little more than a Kukla Fran and Ollie puppet show rerun.

in every public school in America. Every war since WWII has been and will continue to be an amoral epic scale grift. I have no problem with America spending a reasonable amount on a standing military. But America's military should be used only to stop genocide and defend against existential threats not terrorism. Terrorism is a criminal problem and should be dealt with as such through civil and military intelligence and then prosecuted legally.

To suggest that there is a nation-state on earth capable of mounting a coordinated military attack on America's shores is laughable. Any ally that wants our soldiers stationed on their soil only has to ask which for all practical purposes prevents an attack on that country because nobody attacks our soldiers where they are actually invited and have the support of the host population. We should never protect our economic interests via projection of America's military might. It is cost ineffective, economically amoral, and counterproductive in the sense that it can't work. War, as others have noted, is now only about the 90/10 civilian/military death ratio. And you'll never win hearts and minds with that type of tactical outcome. You only create enemies exponentially. Attempting to propogandize another culture in change is an expensive pointless endeavor because we haven't lived their historical/cultural/religious reality and can never truly understand it, much less alter it. We really only good at propoganizing our own citizenry because we start the minute they're born.

Another fine example of the degree of cognitive disconnect which infects America's collective psyche. "Make believe sadism" is incredibly amoral, dangerous and obscene thus illegal, but "actual violence and sadistic conduct" is a necessary (though not necessarily moral or effective) tool in combating "teh ebyl" forces that seek to destroy America thus moral and legal. Break out the magical ponies for everyone in Bush's ethical bizarro world. Sounds like Scalia logic.

That Faux News Network and its bobbleheads continue to be afforded the courtesy of being treated as something other than a taxpayer subsidized propoganda network for the GOP is beyond me. Linking to FNN articles as proof of anything should be ridiculed with the zeal reserved for EM and Shooter.

Q: Hey Dick Morris "what is your favorite color?"

A: DM "yellow, no blue . . . no green . . . kaahbooom"

I probably got the color sequence wrong because somebody borrowed my copy and never returned it.