OMFG! "Reality" has just changed (link at sig, as ever):

The House is now more likely to approve the package, a key member said after the Senate vote.

"It's still uncertain. I think it is likelier to pass than before," House financial services committee chairman Barney Frank said in an interview on CNN.

"The main change is reality. I think that it's not possible now to scoff at the predictions of doom if we don't do anything," the Massachusetts Democrat added.

Barney Frank is not the only one living in a whole new world.

"Even if the bill is passed, worries remain over the global economic outlook so financial markets are unlikely to stabilise," senior economist at JPMorgan in Tokyo, Masamichi Adachi, said.

"It's a completely different world now. All the things US authorities are doing now are simply aimed at preventing a global meltdown."

Despite the Senate approval, stocks in Tokyo fell 1.2 per cent, while MSCI's index for the rest of Asia lost 0.7 per cent. That seems to lend credence to the idea that this $700 billion bailout is just one bucketful of water being scooped out of a leaky boat.

So here's my big question. If things are really as bad as they say they are right now, why were Paulson, Bernanke, Bush and even McCain all saying not long ago that "the fundamentals are sound"?

Either:

(a) the fundamentals were not at all sound, and they knew it, in which case they mislead the US people and global financial markets. Or else

(b) the fundamentals were not at all sound, and they didn't know it, in which case...ummm?

Isn't it way past time that somebody resigned?

I am thinking that Bush, Paulson, Bernanke, and McCain should all resign. Personally, I think that would restore a lot of much-needed credibility to Teh System!

Of course, that would also leave Sarah Palin top of the GOP ticket, which seems to me just about right for where we are at today.

As the father of two boys aged 11 and 12, and a baby girl aged 3, I cannot help thinking that the reflexive rightwing attitudes Glenn describes are examples of immature psychological development. I blame their parents for that, but I also think that it's a sign of a failing US eductional system, and a deeper malaise within 21st century US society.

For example, last year my young boys often got angry with referees' decisions on the soccer field. It didn't really matter to them whether the referee was right or not - they were often just incapable of stepping back from their emotions and taking an objective view of the situation. The younger one often came off the field in tears after a loss, and the older boy got penalized a few times for meting out his own version of justice when lashing out at opponents. I sometimes had to bring them home and give them an hour of "Quiet Time" in their rooms before they could cool down enough to recognise that they just MIGHT have been wrong.

This year, thankfully, they have both learned to "play the whistle" and respect the referee's decisions, even if they do not always agree. Having helped to coach and manage their team, I am proud to see them learning such important lessons, which they will no doubt be able to apply to other areas of life as they grow more mature. But of course, other parents are doing just the opposite - they themselves scream at the referees from the sidelines, or encourage their kids to "go get" opponents! What happens to their kids?

Remember that senior neocon who once boasted that "we create our own reality"? I wrote a lengthy blog post about this rightwing contempt for objective reality back in 2005. Here's a sample:

Objective reality can be maddeningly frustrating sometimes, but it teaches us valuable lessons which help us grow as spiritual beings. We learn to understand and tolerate the differing viewpoints of others. We follow the road rules, remember our manners and generally obey the laws of the land because we understand the potential for chaos if everybody were to behave too selfishly. From all this, we develop a sense of right and wrong, good and bad, even good and evil.

Of course, not everybody respects or appreciates these lessons in co-operative altruism to the same degree. Some people stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the viewpoints, interests or feelings of others. Some people lie, cheat, steal and even murder, seemingly without guilt or remorse. Some of these people may be desperate because of poverty, illness or other pressures. Some may have lacked good teachers in their childhood - given careful mentoring, they can often be taught to change. Others, of course, are sociopaths, seemingly incapable of the mental leap required to empathise wtih another person's point of view. Others are simply insane.

Others, however, are relatively intelligent, well-educated and even wealthy, well-connected people who make a very conscious, deliberate decision to enforce their views on others, whatever the cost...

Throughout Bush's term in office, in almost all areas of his administration, facts have been distorted, suppressed or just plain made up. The Iraq War itself has been nothing if not a war of propaganda from the moment it was conceived. Same goes for the "urgent" need for Social Security reform. Whatever it takes to steamroll the project through the US public's consciousness. The same disregard for truth characterized Bush's presidential bids: what was all that crap about being a uniter, not a divider? Bush's first 100 days were riddled with pre-planned, divisive policies and deliberately controversial decisions, even before 9/11 provided the perfect opportunity for the Mother Of All Lies.

More at the link on my sig, if anyone is interested.

And now, coincidentally, it's nearly time to go and watch Sarah Palin try to act like a grown up in the VP debate...