The Midnight Hour
The words:
Senator McCain just doesn’t get it.
He doesn’t understand that the storm hitting Wall Street hit Main Street long ago.
That’s why his first response to the greatest financial meltdown in generations was a Katrina-like response.
Sort of stood there.
Said the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
That’s why he’s been shifting positions these last two weeks, looking for photo ops, trying to figure out what to say and what to do.
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”
George W. Bush, 2002
Just after the September 11th terrorist attacks occurred, George W. Bush went before the nation and made the case that he needed unprecedented authority — budgetary and military — to take on the threats poised at the well-being and safety of the country.
Now with the current economic crisis in the United States, Bush is yet again asking for unprecedented powers and budget.
What happened after 9/11?
We saw no-bid contracts given to firms like Halliburton. We saw $9 billion of U.S. taxpayer money “go missing” through the Coalition Provisional Authority. We saw abuses of power, the expansion of secrecy, and the promulgation of norms that seemed to be the very antithesis of what America stands for.
A nation’s values and its deep DNA are really only knowable and observable during times of crisis — when it’s tough to stand up for codes that seem a heavy burden during tough times.
We are in a crisis again — and the Bush administration is again asking Americans to forgo fundamental values.
Sen. Barack Obama, in this ad, reads the situation right. He should set an alternative path to whatever Bush and McCain are proposing. The plan Bush has and what the crowd in Washington want to do is exactly the kind of plans Obama should run away from:
Mr. Nichols reads the situation just right. An excerpt:
The question Obama must ask himself is this: If Hoover had tried to get Franklin Roosevelt to help him advance a flawed plan to bail out the bankers who made the mess, would Roosevelt have rushed to Washington for a show of unity. Or would the Democrat who gave us that New Deal have said: “Let the Republicans appear with Hoover. I’m going to keep talking about taking the nation in a completely different direction.”
There is no mystery as to why Bush and McCain want Obama to join them in the Rose Garden. They want him to be a part of their process–as opposed to an alternative to it.
Of course, appearing with Bush and McCain Thursday may help Obama to appear presidential.
But, after eight years of George Bush, America does not need the appearance of a president.
America needs a president. Bush’s agonizing address reminded a nation that long ago lost faith in his leadership that he is not up to the task. McCain’s deer-in-the-headlights dodge of trying to freeze the campaign and avoid the debates confirms that he has nothing more to offer than Bush.
Of course, they want Barack Obama to stand with them on Thursday.
Herbert Hoover would have loved to have Franklin Roosevelt at his side, instead of proposing sounder solutions.
Bush is Hoover. McCain is Hoover on steroids.
Obama, at this critical moment, should not lower himself to their level. He should be Roosevelt.
In my ultimate fantasy, Josh Marshall is the guy I would like to be. Way back when, he was writing and accomplishing things I only dreamed about. His site, TalkingPointsMemo
, is a first stop for political junkies like me. Here he is on John McCain’s declaration that he’s taking a timeout on the presidential campaign:
Perhaps this will shine an unflattering light on my psyche. But, like many of you, I have a busy schedule, with lots of work obligations and meetings. I also end up doing a decent number of panel discussions and speeches, though I try hard to keep those to a minimum. And like everyone, sometimes I get tired or overwhelmed and I wish I could get out of this or that responsibility.
Occasionally in these moments, in a perverse kind of private entertainment, I’ve found myself imagining what would happen if I pawned off on someone just the ballsiest, most inane excuse for flaking on some commitment. And not something that people might buy — nothing entertaining about that — but just something completely off the wall and nonsensical. What would people’s reaction be? Speechless, laughter, tearing me limb from limb? Would they ever speak to me again?
So, let’s see, I can’t moderate the panel because I’ve been called to Washington to give a special briefing on guerilla tactics to be used against the Taliban?
Or maybe, I want to be at the meeting, but as weird as this sounds, all the bridges and tunnels out of Manhattan have been shut for the day. Some counter-terrorism thing probably. I tried renting a helicopter but they’re all booked by people at the UN.
Isn’t this pretty much what John McCain tried to pull today? But actually really did it? And on a national stage? He wants to cancel the debate? And maybe also Palin’s debate. Are you kidding? Why not cancel the election too? And because he has to go back to DC to solve the financial crisis? Really? The topic he knows nothing about and after he’s shown up less in the senate in the last two years than anyone but Tim Johnson, the guy who had the stroke? Which of my employees is going to call from home tomorrow and say they can’t come to work because of the financial crisis?
One of the advantages of running a presidential campaign is that roughly half the country is deeply committed to believing or at least saying that virtually anything you do or say makes sense. And so it is here. But, look, if you were living in the real world, if you were some hotshot young executive at a Fortune 500 company trying to rise in the ranks, and you pulled some whacked crap like this, it would probably get you blackballed permanently. People would think you were either deeply unreliable or maybe just had a screw loose. And yet here he is — is he kidding? He can’t debate Barack Obama because he’s got to go to Washington and save the economy? It’s like the biggest ‘dog at my homework’ in history.
–Josh Marshall
Wanda Sykes
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SYKES: Well, you know, I watched the convention. you know, watching the Democratic Convention, it felt like America. You know, it looked like America. It was hopeful and it was positive and, you know, everybody holding hands. And then I watched the Republican Convention. It was like watching a meeting in Dr. Evil’s lair.
LENO: Wow.
SYKES: It was like all of the evil people got together, and they were having an evil board meeting.
LENO: Really?
SYKES: And each of them, you know, at the board meeting all got up, and each one would tell their plan of how they’re gonna, what they’re going to do with the evil. and it was just so tense and scary. ‘Cause you know those Dr. Evil board meetings, somebody gets it. You know, they usually —
LENO: Oh, they press the button and —
SYKES: Press the button and —
LENO: Go through the floor.
SYKES: You go into a pile of alligators or something.
LENO: Right, right.
SYKES: And I was tense. and it’s usually the weakest one. And I figured that’s why Bush didn’t show up. he was — Bush is, like, “I’m doing this via satellite,” ’cause, you know, he was scared. He was like, next thing you know, Giuliani runs up behind him with a baseball bat.
LENO: Wow, wow.
SYKES: He walks out on the — you know, walks out on that stage, and he’s like, “Why is this plastic on the floor? what’s going on?” Like the scene from Goodfellas.
LENO: Wow, you seem to know all these moves. Now, what are you expecting on the debate Friday? You gonna watch? It should be interesting.
The Matrix, 1999
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I know you’re out there.
I can feel you now.
I know that you’re afraid.
You’re afraid of us.
You’re afraid of change.
I don’t know the future.
I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end.
I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin.
I’m going to hang up this phone and then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see.
I’m going to show them a world without you, a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible.
Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.