AFAICT, Reid done nothing but play doormat for Bush. If he stays, the Republicans will retain control of the senate even if they lose 10 seats.

... how Repubicans go ballistic when they see situations where voter fraud might be a possibility, but completely ignore situations (such as electronic voting irregularities) where it is likely to have actually happened?

... I think they would do well to concentrate their attention on Wall Street.

This is really stupid. Our government goes totally overboard watching regular people for the slightest sign of "terrorist" activity, but they completely miss the financial disaster of the century brewing right under their noses.

... is a scandal about Palin fooling around with Ayers.

I've never lived through any presidential race as disgusting as this one. I thought the swiftboating episode in 2004 was obscene, but fomenting mob hatred at rallies? Nasty, nasty stuff.

What else can McCain do? There isn't a single Republican policy success he can cite to support his campaign. His own legislative agenda is nothing to be proud of, either.

McCain also expressed indignation over Barack Obama’s failure to repudiate Lewis’ words.

Since when is Obama responsible for repudiating remarks that others make without his approval?

And why would Obama issue such a repudiation? Is McCain expecting Obama to defend him from criticism of his campaign's sleazy methods? Would McCain then claim his sleazy methods were approved by Obama?

Economic turmoil has even gutted the potency of the one campaign issue with which the McCain campaign enjoyed real success: Offshore drilling.

I expect Republicans to shut up about this now that the ban has expired. They know it will take years to for drilling to even start, so talking about it now will just make them look stupid for pushing it as a quick fix.

Good Riddens

to this phony Democrat.

Yes, he was a phony. OTOH, Foley was obviously a genuine Republican.

I think I'll submit my petition on Nov 4th.

Wall Street has finally figured out that they are ALL devoted to screwing each other as hard as possible. No wonder they don't trust each other anymore. They never should have.

... and a two week head start. ...

McCain got a heckuva lot more than that. Obama and Hillary were still battling for the Democratic nomination long after McCain became the mathematically-certain presumptive Republican nominee.

If the Rev Wright was really smart, he'd give a fiery sermon about the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP).

That depends on whose side Rev Wright is really on. My guess is that he's on Rev Wright's side, and will do whatever he thinks is best for his own prestige and influence.

... the whole "war on terror" is a waste of time. None of the 9/11 attacks involved "Real American" targets, so nobody ever attacked "Real America". Maybe the "Real Americans" can crawl back under their rocks and leave the rest of us alone.

The next few years would see us trying out every moonbat scheme that has been festering in these peoples' brains since 1968.

How would this be worse than the moonbat scheme (essentially no regulation) we just got done trying?

Seriously. Who carves a B in their face?

Someone who would vote for McCain/Palin?

IMO, house prices will stop declining when they reach levels where people can afford them. Kinda sucks that lots of decent-paying jobs have been exported in the last decade, so we might have a ways to go yet on those prices.

WRT your question, I think the pundits are only saying the economy might stop getting worse if and when house prices bottom out, perhaps because that would end the massive writedowns in the finance industry. If prices stabilize, all those bad securities could be valued and might become marketable again, if only at a fraction of their original prices.

I've been reading that the securitization of mortgages makes loan renegotiation difficult or impossible because there isn't any one creditor who can speak for all of the securities holders who have an interest in a particular loan.

If this is so, how can foreclosures be processed? It is pretty much a given that foreclosing in this economy results in a loss to the lender, so who can approve that loss on behalf of all of the securities holders?

Maybe she should have used McCain's staff make-up artist to make the whole thing more realistic.

I don't think that would have worked. She just wanted to look like she'd been beaten, not like she was dead.

... another president who won't accept the consequences of his own decisions.

It is pretty obvious that the highest-paid campaign staffer isn't her speech writer.

... except possibly to use government as a tool for the advancement of her religious beliefs. Just about everything she says is whatever sounds good at the moment. Practically none if it reflects how she might actually act if she became president.

Who can say this in the pages of the Wall Street Journal--supposedly a publication devoted to economic thought--and not get laughed out of the field?

That raises a question: Is the Wall Street Journal really dedicated to economic thought, or is it more a vehicle for economic propaganda?

In reality, government central planning caused the problem in the first place.

I'd like to hear your explanation of how government planning was involved in the securitization of mortgage debt.