Unsurprisingly, deregulation is not to blame. First, here are Charles Calomiris, professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and Paul Wallison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and general counsel of the Treasury Department in the Reagan administration, writing in the the WSJ. From “Blame Fannie Mae and Congress For the Credit Mess”: the vast accumulation of toxic

Though it seems unlikely to me, one way the election could play out, as noted in the Washington Times, is as follows: On Nov. 5, the presidential election winds up in a electoral-college tie, 269-269, the Democrat-controlled House picks Sen. Barack Obama as president, but the Senate, with former Democrat Joe Lieberman voting with Republicans, deadlocks at 50-50, so Vice President Dick Cheney steps in to break the tie to

Though he was limited to 800 words, our own commenter Aldo had his piece defending Sarah Palin published in the online edition of the LAT’s opinion page: […] much has been made of [Governor Palin’s] supporters’ protectiveness, such as the recent complaint that Republicans are indulging in the type of grievance politics that they have traditionally opposed. “Why can’t she be questioned?” goes the refrain. Obscured by the word “questioned”

     “You sure them’s ducks — and not, say, some other kind of water fowl?”      “No, those are definitely ducks.” Billy cocked his shotgun. “You can tell by the beak. And the little sailor suits.” finis

…from Bloomberg. Fuel for the fire. (h/t Bob Reed)

An important timeline of events that led to the current financial crisis, and the attendant spin that is causing pedestrian poets to “lament” the potentiality of a revolutionary government overthrow. By way of, say, Larry Gelbart and Mike Farrell conducting commando raids with poisoned “peace darts” on Hummer dealerships or some such. From the WSJ: Once upon a time, in the land that FDR built, there was the rule of

Jawa is on the story — a long and drawn out bit of research in which he names names and connects dots. Unsurprisingly, it looks like the Obama campaign, in addition to using Nixonian-type plumbers, has followed its lead in a “dirty tricks” strategy perfected by Don Segretti of C.R.E.E.P. (nb: as the Jawa story makes clear, this was not only known, but it was heartily supported by members of

From Gary at Nielson: Nielsen just finished a review of how “engaged” voters were by the national political conventions ( e.g., how much attention they were paying). We found that voters not yet committed to either candidate were 12% more engaged by TV coverage of the GOP convention than the Democratic convention. John McCain’s acceptance speech on September 4 drew the most attentive audience of uncommitted viewers. Telecasts of Barack

Here, available online for the first time, is a brief excerpt from a 1999 interview with the late great Lou Thesz on Tony Cecchine and his place in catch wrestling. Mr Thesz, who died over half a decade ago now, remained close with Tony until his death. And though the two never engaged in any business dealings, Thesz endorsed Cecchine — and testified to his expertise in hooking (a rarity

Go up to a traffic cop and smack him across the face with a rolled up copy of one of the suburban Yellow Pages. Then, when he claps the bracelets on you, keep breaking off fingers and sliding your increasingly diminished hands out of the cuffs. Repeat until he gets so frustrated that he lets you go with a warning and $20 for Chinese takeout.