The Daily Parker

I couldn't figure out who the GOP VP candidate reminded me of until just now.

She's Dolores Umbridge—with lipstick.

Sadly, between the two of them, the English language will be the loser in this debate. (All times Central U.S.)

20:04: First laugh line of the debate: "John McCain is a reformer."

20:08: "Team of mavericks." WTF?

20:15: First, "I'm not going to answer the questions." Second, she eliminated the fool tax? What, she was tired of paying it?

20:23: I just noticed Palin's "mine's-bigger-than-yours" lapel pin. Bless her heart.

20:30: Let's create jobs by not buying any more foreign oil? I think she's stumping for Alaska, not McCain. Also, I think the causes of climate change might have some bearing on the solutions to it, but that's too advanced for Corky.

20:38: You know, people who truly believe adults should be able to chose their own partners don't have to read from a card to state their positions.

20:47: No! I will not countenance four more years of "Nucular!"

20:57: Clear thinking yields clear speech. Now, Eisenhower famously obfuscated when he wanted to but possessed a keen and thoughtful mind that helped us win World War II. In that light, Palin may be similarly concealing a towering intellect, but I'm guessing not.

21:04: If she doesn't know how the Senate works, how can she be its president? More worrying, why doesn't she see this as a problem?

21:06: My dog has left the room because I keep screaming at the TV.

21:11: "Say it ain't so Joe, and there you go again"? WTF?

21:20: Reagan didn't say "shining city on a hill." That was John Winthrop, in the 1630s.

21:18: Has Palin ever actually read the Constitution?

21:26: Not that it's relevant to the debate, but certainly it is to my mood: the Cubs are losing 5-0 in the 3rd.

21:32: Can't say that changed anything, but as an alumnus of

It just occurred to me: three of the four candidates for President and Vice President live in the 1st, 48th, and 49th states, and the fourth was born in the 50th. One way or another (and you know which way I prefer), a state that didn't exist when half of the candidates were born will send its first citizen (or native) to the White House.

Did anyone else notice this?

At this writing, The Economist's readers prefer Obama 8,146 to 3.

No, that's not a typo, it really is a ratio of 2700:1.

I should point out, The Economist is a conservative newspaper.

Of course, as McCain's supporters would be quick to point out, their readership is almost exclusively highly-educated, well-read, and wealthy, not the sorts of people you'd want to hunt moose with. Good thing they're not running the world or anything.

Let's review.

President Clinton, the "tax-and-spend" Democrat, left office with a $122 billion surplus.

President Bush, the "conservative" Republican, is on track to leave office with a $10,000 billion debt. I say $10,000 billion because "$10 trillion" seems smaller than "$10,000,000,000,000" but is in fact the same number.

Or put another way: Clinton, +$122,000,000,000; Bush, (-$10,000,000,000,000).

More personally: Clinton left every American with $428.07 in Government surplus; Bush will leave each of us $33,000 in debt[1].

President Clinton had a Republican (i.e., hostile) Congress for 6 out of 8 years. President Bush has had a Republican (i.e., friendly) Congress for 6 out of 8 years.

So, tell me again, which party uses your money more responsibly? Are you better off than you were 4 years ago? Eight? Are you angry yet?

Polls open in 35 days and 4 hours.

[1] I used population figures of 295 million for 2000 and 305 million for 2008, which probably gives Dubya the benefit of the estimate.

Polls open in five weeks (and a few hours).

If you have a few extra bucks, you may want to donate to your party's congressional or senatorial committees, particularly if you're annoyed with today's vote. You can also harrangue your neighbors: check out FundRace to see who's giving what to whom.

I remember, back in the halcyon days of last week, when a certain (very) senior Senator from Arizona swooped in to save the bailout plan. Well, today, with 60% of Democrats voting for it and 67% of Republicans voting against it, I'd say he did everything he could.

But 778 points? Ouch. Good work, Johnny Boy.

In a moment of historic import in the Capitol and on Wall Street, the House of Representatives voted on Monday to reject a $700 billion rescue of the financial industry. The vote came in stunning defiance of President Bush and Congressional leaders of both parties, who said the bailout was needed to prevent a widespread financial collapse.

The vote against the measure was 228 to 205, with 133 Republicans joining 95 Democrats in opposition. The bill was backed by 140 Democrats and 65 Republicans.

Then Krugman: We are a banana republic with nukes:

So what we now have is non-functional government in the face of a major crisis, because Congress includes a quorum of crazies and nobody trusts the White House an inch.

Interesting times. Kind of like 1931.

Update (via James Fallows): The Obama-Biden campaign released a statement:

This is a moment of national crisis, and today’s inaction in Congress as well as the angry and hyper-partisan statement released by the McCain campaign are exactly why the American people are disgusted with Washington. Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to join together and act in a way that prevents an economic catastrophe. Every American should be outraged that an era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and Washington has led us to this point, but now that we are here, the stability of our entire economy depends on us taking immediate action to ease this crisis.

I won't be live-blogging the debate; but Josh Marshall is.

Economist Paul Krugman today chastises just about everyone involved in the bailout meltdown this week:

[T]he grown-up thing is to do something to rescue the financial system. The big question is, are there any grown-ups around — and will they be able to take charge?

...

[T]here do seem to be some adults in Congress, ready to do something to help us get through this crisis. But the adults are not yet in charge.

On a related note, I commend to everyone Frederick Allen's Only Yesterday, published in 1932. It's a quick read, and if you lived through the last 10 years, it will seem eerily familiar. (Someone at UVA has put the entire book online, as it may now be in the public domain.)