Even Rove Thinks McCain is Lying

All I can say is, wow.

The former Bush chief strategist, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said that John McCain had stretched the truth in his recent round of attacks against Barack Obama, in the process opening up the Arizonan to a round of effective counter-attacks.

“McCain has gone in his ads one step too far, and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100-percent-truth test,” said Rove. “Both campaigns ought to be careful about… there ought to be an adult who says: ‘Do we really need to go that far in this ad? Don’t we make our point and get broader acceptance and deny the opposition an opportunity to attack us if we don’t include that one little last tweak in the ad?’”

For Karl Rove, partisan hack and the brain behind the Republican lying machine, to criticize McCain is big.

Black Monday?

I am just saying that tomorrow the shit is going to hit the fan. I am sure many of you know that Lehman is planning to file for bankruptcy before the markets open tomorrow. AIG is looking for $40 billion in capital to shore up its books and to prevent their firm from being downgraded by the ratings agencies and Bank of America bough Merryl. It’s going to be an interesting day. An overview is here.

Not Good

The Times is reporting that Lehman hasn’t found a buyer. If it goes under, we’re in trouble.

Unable to find a savior, the troubled investment bank Lehman Brothers appeared headed toward liquidation on Sunday, in what would be one of the biggest failures in Wall Street history.

The overarching goal of the weekend talks was to prevent a quick liquidation of Lehman, a bank that is so big and so interconnected with others that its abrupt failure would send shock waves through the financial world. Of deep concern is what impact a Lehman failure would have on other securities firms, insurance companies and banks, notably Merrill Lynch and the American International Group, both of which have come under mounting pressure in the markets.

A.I.G., one of the world’s largest insurers, may need to raise $30 billion to $40 billion to avoid a severe downgrade to its credit rating, according to people briefed on the situation. An A.I.G. spokesman, Nicholas J. Ashooh, called that estimate speculative and declined to comment further.

Sorry Trader, it doesn’t even look good for AIG.

If They Blow It Again, Pt. I

It occurs to me that given the popularity of the McCain-Palin ticket that some of us need to start making contingency plans if the American people decides to shoot itself in the foot for the third presidential election cycle in a row. I, for one, am stuck here for three more years due to a commitment I made to law school. After that point, I can flee to London or East Asia to practice American corporate law on behalf of foreign companies seeking entrance into the American market. However, most of you are more flexible in your living arrangements so it is primarily to you that I am addressing this post. This inaugural post offers England as a potential post-apocalypse destination. In addition to sharing our native tongue and being the womb from which our nation birthed, it is less obsessed with religious dogma. Indeed, it has gone so far as to apologize to Charles Darwin for “over-emotionally dismissing” his theory of evolution:

The Church of England will concede in a statement that it was over-defensive and over-emotional in dismissing Darwin’s ideas. It will call “anti-evolutionary fervour” an “indictment” on the Church”.

“The statement will read: Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. We try to practise the old virtues of ‘faith seeking understanding’ and hope that makes some amends.”

A church apologizing for its “over-emotional” rejection of Darwin? Ridiculous! What are they over there- educated?! How dare they apologize for rejecting a 150 year old theory that is the linchpin of biology! What is so breathtaking is that given how obviously correct (and belated) this move is, can you even imagine something similar in the United States occurring? We’re not even sure if the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate believes the theory (see: Matt Damon’s final question about Sarah Palin in his interview). In the United States, it is basically a badge of honor among some politicians that they don’t accept a 150 year old foundation of modern science. While I don’t want this series to be several installments of U.S. bashing, some of it will necessarily emerge from the unfavorable comparisons to the suggested destinations.

So, I offer England as a post-apocalypse destination (P.A.D.). More installments to come.

Bob Herbert Strikes Again

As usual, the whole op-ed by Herbert is worth a read, but this little nugget is particularly entertaining- and right:

With most candidates for high public office, the question is whether one agrees with them on the major issues of the day. With Ms. Palin, it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing. She doesn’t appear to understand some of the most important issues…

The Bush doctrine, which flung open the doors to the catastrophe in Iraq, was such a fundamental aspect of the administration’s foreign policy that it staggers the imagination that we could have someone no further than a whisper away from the White House who doesn’t even know what it is.

Dark Horse to Return?

A few months ago, it would have been absurd to characterize Vito Fossella as the dark horse candidate for the 13th congressional district, but things have certainly taken a turn. That said, the Advance is reporting that a polling firm has been trying to assess whether Vito would have a chance in the general election.

Nobody seems to know for sure, but rumors to that effect exploded across the 13th Congressional District last night after voters this weekend began receiving calls from a polling firm, asking them for their opinions about the scandal-scarred representative.

“I assume the poll is being done by him, or on his behalf,” said one veteran Island political observer who believes Fossella might be angling to get back in the race.

“Why else would you poll now? Nothing else makes sense.”