I agree. I was just aggravated (but not, even a little, surprised) to see a journalist using the term.

I also don't consider Black Blocs smashing windows to be civil unrest, just dumb. And again... the cops are armed way more than they need to be to cover that kind of dumbness. We don't need Army brigades with crap cannons and microwave guns to protect Starbucks windows.

Get a hobby, man.

Please.

Yep. Yesterday, in Brookline, maybe five hundred feet up... above building height, but not by much. I haven't been here long enough to know whether that's unusual or not...

From the NYTimes (link at sig):

Amtrak and the Transportation Security Administration deployed officers from about 100 local police departments to 150 train stations in 13 states and the District of Columbia during the morning rush on Tuesday in a drill to familiarize law enforcement personnel with the rail system

Yeah, because Metrorail and AMTRAK cops don't already know the rail system.

I know! WTF is there to know? There are trains, which are like buses, but they only go in one direction. Otherwise, train stations are just public facilities. There are escalators. Men's and women's rooms. A place where stimulants are sold.

The article said people didn't notice the police presence, and it made me wonder if that was the real purpose. As in, how do you boil a frog...

Don't you guys' tinfoil hats itch like all hell?

I was being half-droll, half serious. The pre-war demos were anomalous, IMHO - and that was before Miami, and before the "free speech zone" holding pen became common practice. Has there been any protest of significant scale since the pre-war demos?

We'd both be speculating as to whether some new outrage would suffice to get the masses out on the street. Neither Guantanamo, nor Abu Ghraib, nor Katrina, nor PATRIOT, PATRIOT II, FISA nor (yet) the Mother of All Bailouts got the masses of their asses. So I stand by my cynicism.

This is just not a civil-unresty country.

Watching yous guys squawk is kind of like being in a Boston bar when someone says something remotely positive about Derek Jeter.

she definitely did as well as anyone here could have

I would put money on shooter, bernbart or even art freaking guerrilla over Palin, any day of the week. I mean, if that's the standard we're using.

Definitely.

ready from Day One.

here's a trillion dollars and fuck America.

I agree with Electro.

Glenn, I'm curious if you have any control over the headlines that appear on the main page. It seems like they're all that many commenters read...

Anyway, kudos to whoever changed "I almost feel sorry for..." to "Correction."

Ohh, yeah. The actual headline shows up in the "Most Popular" box, but the lame-o one is still on the top sidebar.

Oh well. Eyeballs and all that.

I particularly like the comments that go "Glenn, I love your stuff but (phrase that indicates they didn't read this or any other thing you've ever written)."

No kidding.

It reminded me of when I was caught obviously bullshitting an answer to a question about 10BASE-T on a job interview back in the early 90s. It was humiliating, as it should have been.

I can only hope that she feels the same twinge watching this video. I doubt it, though.

I would love to see any of you (or your designated LW hitters) get out from behind your keyboards and go run for office

This is, like, the weirdest defense I have ever read.

What if a nurse said to the family members of a patient, who were wondering why their loved one was given Patanol instead of Platinol, hearing the response "I would love to see any of you try and do this... Until then, you can only sit and kibitz."

Link at sig.

Couric: You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?
Sarah Palin: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and, on our other side, the land-boundary that we have with Canada. It's funny that a comment like that was kinda made to … I don't know, you know … reporters.

Couric: Mocked?
Palin: Yeah, mocked, I guess that's the word, yeah.
Couric: Well, explain to me why that enhances your foreign-policy credentials.
Palin: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of.

"What did you mean by that?" Ooh, the bias.

Keep patting yourself on the back, there, chief...

Stock up on illicit substances and try for this:

http://tinyurl.com/4oac5z

As a member of "anyone," I'll jump in: I read things all across the political spectrum, and I haven't heard anyone seriously propose that literally nothing be done to deal with the current situation. I've only seen that presented as a sort of "false choice" fallacy by those who support this bailout: "if we do nothing, we'll be in Great Depression II!!"

I guess I'm curious why you think Glenn would espouse such a position.

You are absolutely right that there has been very little public debate on this matter in the media, with the possible exception of a dismissive-ish piece in the Post (http://tinyurl.com/3qvvc2) which nonetheless laid out a reasonable contrary plan.

There's been a very lively discussion at Calculated Risk on the bailout (link in sig). That site is, in general, a great resource for developing a fuller understanding of the issues surrounding the financial crisis.

CR favors a new structure similar to the Depression-era Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). This was a quasi-governmental organization that make preferred stock investments in banks (with the taxpayers owning the stock). There's a lively discussion in comments which I'd recommend you check out.

Put simply: There are alternatives to either doing nothing or just doing what Paulson says.

Yes 205 No 228 ...

Dow off 500 points

n/t