Errata

Kudos to President Bush for not taking a shot at his successor. He showed class. It is unfortunate that his Vice President could not have taken his cue from him. Speaking of the dark evil one, has he ever taken responsibility for a mistake in his life? He said that no one saw the economic downturn coming because of it's global nature. Don't blame his administration. Well, hello? Maybe if you had spent less time in smoke filled back rooms with oil executives and defense companies, you could have spent a little more time on the "vision" thing.

Or call Rand or some other neutral think tank for some help instead of your old warhorses Cato, American Enterprise and the Heritage Foundation. His lack of vision was not limited to the economy - how much time have we lost on carbon emissions, global warming, stem cells, and so many other important issues? I think they were too arrogant to ever consider any divergent opinions. Or think outside the box. Greenspan's protestations smack of the same myopia. Do our leaders not have access to the best and the brightest? Has anyone been minding the store? Cheney says that stuff happens - two wars and Katrina - one of those wars certainly didn't have to happen and maybe 9/11 wouldn't have either if they had gotten around to reading the august memo about planes flying into the World Trade Center.

Maybe Maurice "Hank" Greenberg is the only man who can put AIG back together again. Great to see the U.S. pay off the hedge funds for betting on the collapse of housing and the mortgage meltdown. Hats off to Olympia Snowe and Ron Wyden for trying to cap executive compensation months ago.

On the heels of the story that Goldman was the big beneficiary of AIG bailout money, can we dare ask if Henry Paulson was just on a big vendetta to screw Lehman? For all the shots Geithner is taking, lets remember that Paulson ran the show, all three of these guys are republicans and the bailout took place on Bush's watch. People got millions of dollars reportedly, from a two page letter, under total secrecy and with no accountability.

Nice to see that 11 AIG employees got million dollar retention bonuses and then split.

Can you believe that Liddy took the AIG helm as a favor to the government for one dollar in compensation? And then gets raked over the coals.

Remember the good old days, why only a few months ago, when Richard Shelby, Mitch O'Connell, Eric Cantor and Mel Martinez all came out publicly against capping executive compensation in the TARP program?

My friend Dave and I got into an argument this afternoon, he thinks that the previous administration set the whole collapse up and that the "right" people are profiting greatly. I cling to the position that no one is that craven and that the recession started 15 months ago. Don't think this was the swan song they had in mind.

I saw the Watchmen movie this afternoon - alone in an empty theatre and thoroughly enjoyed it. Haven't read the graphic novel in years but it didn't seem that off the mark like the desecration that was "The Lord of the Rings". Felt a strange kinship with Doctor Manhattan.

Bravo to Meghan McCain for her solicitation to the vile Laura Ingraham to kiss her fat ass. Ingraham, Coulter, Limbaugh, Hannity, who wins the cherished most "venal" award?

If I hear one more republican decry Obamas lack of bipartisanship, I will puke. You guys had your shot and wouldn't give him a single vote. You admit that the Bush Administration was totally partisan. Let's see, when you are in power we get nothing, when we are in power, you deserve half - I think I get it.

I worry about a rebound in my state and the whole country as it relates to housing. I know new starts are slightly up and the foreclosures have started to move but the reality is we have no water - so much of the economy is tied up in building - we need to retool into information or bioremediation, something that will not further stress our already rationed and shrinking water supply. Tattoo removal and Wii injury rehabilitation should all be going great guns.

I may be selling some of the pearls of my guitar collection to pay for my medical costs - 1960 Telecaster, rare 1964 Gretsch, etc. If you know any fat cat musicians, give me a jingle.

Millard Fillmore is king of the online billiards players, besting all available competition on the candystand website. He just won the grand tourney. To think that a man on the far side of 55 would take advantage of so many 11 year olds just stretches comprehension...

With the news that Donald Trump is screwing the poor buyers who bought into his Baja development and refuses to refund their money - is this the end of the line for the badly coiffed blowhard?

Israel is still taking huge hits on the world stage for Gaza - better that they just shut up and keep taking missile and suicide attacks from the "resistance". Thank god Charles Freeman took his exit.

Isn't it interesting that the leaked Red Cross report on CIA black site prisons showed absolutely concurring descriptions of torture by prisoners who never had contact with one another? The CIA spokesman asked if we would take the word of a bunch of terrorists over them? H-m-m-m. Many of these prisoners according to a new report had the flimsiest connection conceivable to any malfeasance. Collateral damage, I guess. I think that you catch these guys on the battlefield or wreaking actual havoc and you put a bullet in their head right there. You don't call for the pliers and the blowtorches and get medieval on their ass.

Twenty five bucks to the winner of my new contest - Where does the next World War start?

China/Taiwan

North Korea/Rest of Asia

Kirils

India/Pakistan

Israel/Iran

Balkans (can't forget them, although implausible)

U.S./Canada

U.S./Russia (with Georgia epicenter)

U.S./Venezuela (with help from the russkies)

Am I missing a good conflict somewhere?