Wallstreet smirk

When regulators took over mortgage finance Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this month, they eliminated $12.59 million in exit payments for executives Daniel H. Mudd of Fannie Mae and Richard F. Syron of Freddie Mac. The executives will now get a combined $9.43 million upon their exit.

The Washington Post with its giant DC circulation may be able to slide mention of this monetary peccadillo into the beltway news without fanfare, but how does it play in Peoria? Tales of yet another incredulous stunt by the mega moneyed do not the happy rustbelter make.

But if we could take a moment and reflect upon the stress of Freddie and Fannie ex-execs who, between them, have nearly thirteen million dollars less to retire upon than they had planned upon, perhaps we'll feel less put upon. For all we know, as we sputter on about small oil sticker shock, Mr. Fannie may be auctioning his condo in Tahiti as Sir Freddie maxes out his credit cards to fuel the yacht.


public domain painting Paul Gauguin ~ Deux Tahitiennes, 1899, oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Palin pales

The liberal mainstream media set me up. I tuned in to hear a speech by a spitfire self-starter with maverick creds surpassed by none. Instead, I heard talking points dressed in hocky ma shucks.

It was embarrassing, as a woman, to see her squander her talents by pandering to a mean spirited conservatism. She lied about the Democrats' middle class tax cut.

"How are you going to be better off if our opponent adds a massive tax burden to the American economy?"

She lied about the Democrats' renewable energy policies.

"America needs more energy. Our opponent is against producing it."

She insulted citizens who take responsibility for their communities.

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities."

She ignored her party's distension of the national debt and generous tax cuts to the well-to-do.

I was led to believe 'maverick McCain' would rattle the cages of his grand old party with a young, vibrant, new-thinking dynamo running-mate. Come to find out, with the glibness of Guliani and the vainglory of her new elitist friends, Miss Congeniality only finds it necessary to embrace the protectors of their own narrow perspectives and swollen purses.

Let the vetting begin.


Image uploaded to Commons by Ranveig licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Wisdom of insecurity

If we must be nationalists and have a sovereign state, we cannot also expect to have world peace.

If we want to get everything at the least possible cost, we cannot expect to get the best possible quality, the balance between the two being mediocrity.

If we make it an ideal to be morally superior, we cannot at the same time avoid self-righteousness.

If we cling to belief in God, we cannot likewise have faith, since faith is not clinging but letting go.

-- Alan W. Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety (1951)

Hmmm....

They cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
-- Barrack Obama