An excerpt from Farewell America, by James Hepburn (a pseudonym)

Americans are the sons of Calvin. John Calvin preached that the pursuit of wealth and the preservation of property is a Christian duty. He taught that the temptations of the flesh demand a discipline as strict as that of the military profession. "He created an ideal type of man theretofore unknown to both religion and society, who was neither a humanist nor an ascetic, but a businessman living in the fear of God."

Two centuries later, this new type of man came under the influence of John Wesley. "We exhort all Christians to amass as much wealth as they can, and to preserve as much as they can; in other words, to enrich themselves." For President Madison, "The American political system was founded on the natural inequality of men." Correlatively, the moral philosophy of the United States is based on success.

At the end of the Eighteenth Century a Frenchman, the Chevalier de Beaujour, wrote on his return from North America, "The American loses no opportunity to acquire wealth. Gain is the subject of all his conversations, and the motive for all his actions. Thus, there is perhaps no civilized nation in the world where there is less generosity in the sentiments, less elevation of soul and of mind, less of those pleasant and glittering illusions that constitute the charm or the consolation of life. Here, everything is weighed, calculated and sacrificed to self-interest."

Another Frenchman, the Baron de Montlezun, added, "In this country, more than any other, esteem is based on wealth. Talent is trampled underfoot. How much is this man worth? they ask. Not much? He is despised. One hundred thousand crowns? The knees flex, the incense burns, and the once-bankrupt merchant is revered like a god."

The British went even farther than the French. "They are escaped convicts. His Majesty is fortunate to be rid of such rabble. Their true God is power."

http://www.voxfux.com/kennedy/farewell/farewell00.html

re:we haven't been attacked since 9-11-01.........THANKS PRESIDENT BUSH!!!!!

Bush dead-enders always conveniently forget that 9/11 happened on his watch, along with two disastrous wars that have both failed to capture bin Laden and killed and maimed many times the number of Americans as did 9/11. These two failed wars have done nothing but increase the strength and numbers of would-be terrorists -- not to mention that generations to come will be saddled with the bill for it all..........THANKS PRESIDENT BUSH!!!!!

The ABCs of Paulson's Bailout

By MICHAEL HUDSON

The main impact will be to reinforce the concentration of wealth in the hands of creditors (the wealthiest 10 percent of the population) rather than wiping out financial assets (and debts) through the bankruptcies that were occurring as a result of “market forces.” Is it too much to say that we are seeing the end of economic democracy and the emergence of a financial oligarchy – a self-serving class whose actions threaten to polarize society and, in the process, stifle economic growth and lead to the very bankruptcy that the bailout was supposed to prevent?

http://www.counterpunch.org/hudson10202008.html

PAUL SOLMAN: We sat down with [Nassim Nicholas] Taleb and the man he calls his mentor, mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot, pioneer of fractal geometry and chaos theory. And even more than feeling vindicated, they're both scared.

NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB: I don't know if we're entering the most difficult period since -- not since the Great Depression, since the American Revolution.

PAUL SOLMAN: The most serious situation we've been in since the American Revolution?

NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB: Yes.

PAUL SOLMAN: Professor Mandelbrot, can that possibly be true?

BENOIT MANDELBROT, Mathematician: It's very serious.

PAUL SOLMAN: More serious than the Great Depression, possibly?

BENOIT MANDELBROT: Possibly. I hope not.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec08/psolman_10-21.html

Got no woman

or a steady job

Feeling like a cowboy

and looking like a slob

But I'm living in hope...

http://tinyurl.com/58vjthml

I first posted this on August 1, 2007 ( http://tinyurl.com/5s439s ):

In order to understand our present situation, it is instructive to read this article from the WSJ from June 9, 2005:

In Treating U.S. After Bubble, Fed Helped Create New Threats

* Low Rates Bolstered Economy, But Housing, Foreign Debt Appear Out of Balance

* Greenspan's Legacy at Stake

"We have done what no other economy has done before, faced with an asset bubble," Lawrence Lindsey, a former Fed governor and Bush adviser, said at a recent panel discussion. Praising both the Fed's rate cuts and Mr. Bush's tax cuts, he said, "This is the first time in history the textbook economic policy...was used, and worked. The problem is, once you finish that chapter of the economic texts, you turn the page and the page is blank -- because no one has gone through the process before."

...if a collapse in housing prices or a run on the dollar triggers a new recession, Mr. Greenspan's legacy may be different. The Fed is conducting a "crucial experiment" in post-bubble monetary policy, says Edward Chancellor, a financial historian. "We don't know what the outcome is yet."

http://www.usfca.edu/~gonzales/web611/Fed_and_Housing.pdf

Obviously,Greenspan's "crucial experiment" has failed miserably.

I posted this on The New York Times, back on June 15 -- before the economic meltdown hit the fan -- when the race was still a dead heat:

What will sink McCain and the Republicans will be the economy, pure and simple.

We are only beginning to feel the pain of years of financial mismanagement by Bush and the Republican Party. By election time, the great unwashed masses will be looking to stick their heads on pikes. Even lifelong Republicans will be seeking an FDR-like savior.

"Bad" doesn't even begin to describe what's yet to come.

http://tinyurl.com/5rpvlx

I'm getting into the pike business. Look for the grand opening of a 'Pikes "R" Us' store, coming soon to your neighborhood.