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Wednesday, September 24, 2008 12:00 AM

Where is the outrage?

John McCain decries greed on Wall Street and suggests a commission be formed to look into the problem. This is like Casanova coming out for chastity.

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008 06:36 PM

Garrison I was thinking the same thing

Except my outrage was about the proposed 1 Billion giveaway to Georgia WHAT!!!

Bridges and infrastructure are crumbling around us and we are sending 1 billion to a fleabite republic, for ideological reasons.It dropped off the radar immediately after the recent crisis This is another Lewis Carol moment for me, we have definitely slipped through the looking glass.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 06:42 PM

Indeed

Outrage. That is what is needed right about now. And the genuine article, too, not the flumphy stuff the politicians squeeze out of some tube and smear on their puffy, carefully coifed heads before parading in front of the cameras to denounce the latest scandal of the week silliness.

True outrage. Marching in the streets outrage. Shouting. Tossing a few rotten eggs and maybe even trampling a lawn or two. Not showing up for work. Staying away from the mall and the wal-mart.

Tar and 700 billion dollars worth of feathers.

That kind of outrage. And if not now...later, revolution.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 06:48 PM

Yes, we are outraged

But what are the Dems doing? They are shrugging their shoulders, saying "We shouldn't let these greedy bastards get away with driving this economy into the ground, only to be rewarded. We can't let them get away with it!" But in their minds, they're thinking, "Holy Shit! If we don't do something, I could lose everything I have, and then, what would I be, a mere Commoner?"

I say let us all be Commoners, and begin anew. We will survive. Hell, for a $750 billion payoff, don't you think there should be something criminal about this? Does Osama Bin Laden have a $750 billion bounty hanging over his head? I DON"T THINK SO!

The goddamn liberals always wanted to go back to go back to a pre-industrialized society, let's see if they can hack it. I know I can.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 06:56 PM

Plenty of outrage

I was plenty outraged when I called my congressman and my senators today. Not mock rage intended to get their attention. Real rage at how cavalierly they were playing with my hard-earned money and my children's future. Real rage that they would sell all of us down the river without any oversight or attempt to minimize the cost to us.

I am so f'ing tired of being pegged as a tax-and-spend liberal when in fact both my personal life and the majority of the Democratic politicians I've voted for have been far more fiscally responsible than any Republican Congress or administration during my adult life. (I'm 50, so that puts me all the way back to the mid 70s.)

Yeah, I'm outraged, and you should be too. Take action and hold your representatives responsible.

P.S. Mr. Keillor, you are too kind. John McCain forfeited the right to be referred to as a gentleman quite some time ago, with is lying and pandering.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 06:57 PM

We ARE outraged, Garrison

But all the phone calls and e-mails to my Democratic representatives won't stop them from being pussies and bending over and taking it in the ass.....so to speak.

How do I know this? Because that's what they always do.

My question is 1) why should we let Paulson be in charge of this and 2) why should I have to pay for it?

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 06:58 PM

Thank you sir.

Thank you, Mr. Keillor, for your strong words.

McCain's economic adviser is Phil Gramm.

How many places does that name show up along with "crash."

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 07:03 PM

Where is the outrage?

As I've been looking around, listening and reading these last few days, I've seen and heard a lot of outrage, not from McCain, of course, but even from some Republicans.

Yes, we the people need regulation of financial entities. And as far as I'm concerned, these "investment banks" that we're supposed to bail out can just crash. Read the transcript of Glen Greenwald's interview with a professor of economics (I forget his name). Just jump into Glen's column today and follow the links.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 07:09 PM

everybody in washington should be looking for a new job, after handing in passports,

while cops find out if they're crooked, or lazy, or just incompetent.

but the american constitution makes no provision for citizen recourse, if all the pollies have a bi-partisan policy to raping the tax cows. that's why americans need citizen initiative and recall powers, as democratic countries do.

no use getting righteous, mr keillor, the system is what it is, you want a better society, you have to change the system. until then, bend over and be quiet.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 07:15 PM

Oh, there's outrage all right!

I know that people in Lake Wobegone are soft-spoken and deliberate, but here in the Michigan rust belt, people are yelling, getting red in the face, pounding on tables and pounding out furious e-mails to their Congressmen. On Wall Street, a life-long Republican trader has been quoted as standing up amid his colleagues and saying "I'm voting for Obama. I don't care if I have to pay more taxes, I just want somebody to fix this!"

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 07:22 PM

A chicken-hawk in every jail cell

And nothing but an oil stain left in every driveway

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 07:54 PM

There be outrage, Mr. Keillor

Thanks for your article. The country is suffering because of the size of its financial sector. We are living in a world where Finance is THE economy, and we are now seeing what happens when a 20-21% of GDP financial sector comes unglued.

Trace it back to the day the financial sector hijacked the American economy or the day government said that Finance will be preferred over other sectors such as manufacturing. Manufacturing slides and no would think of lending a hand, however when Wall St. has a problem it’s the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, and subsides to the rescue.

What happened? Consumerism. The idea that we must buy everything from mortgages we couldn't afford, to credit cards and gimmicks Wall St. tells us we've got to have. As a result, the country went further into debt. But Finance got bigger and the big bucks went to the 2% at the top.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 08:04 PM

I'm outraged

So are my friends.

I've called my congressmen.

What else can I do?

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 08:05 PM

Etaoin shrdlu

Heh. I get it.

Look, there's PLENTY of outrage on both sides about this handout to the same assholes who largely caused all the problems. I wrote/faxed Sens. Kerry and Kennedy and my do-little rep, Niki Tsongas today. I am furious.

You don't get to bitch about it without having at least made an effort to stop it. Short of pitchforks and torches, I mean.

The bipartisan http://fedupusa.org is doing a hell of a job on this.

The Senate GOP are not going to support this thing in hopes that the Dems will, and when the whole thing crashes and burns as it will, the Dems will be painted as the losers they will be if they pass this stinking pile of shit.

The best thing Obama can do to insure victory is to show the fuck up and vote NO. Everyone HATES this thing. Currently neither of em has committed to even showing up.

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