Super Briefly on the McCain Campaign Suspension Issue:

I could post articles on Sen. McCain suspending his campaign and then agreeing now to the debate even though there is not an agreed-upon "bailout package" but in substance, I see Sen. McCain's attempt to provide executive style leadership on this matter as a good thing and Sen. Obama's unwillingness to join with Sen. McCain and pursue a genuinely non-partisan solution to this problem to be another example of Sen. Obama not wanting to do anything that does not emphasize him personally rather than placing the common good above personal accolades.

That said, I hope Sen. McCain after showing a willingness to put the good of the economy over his own personal whims really cleans Sen. Obama's clock in tonight's debate.

Miscellaneous Musings on Threads of Interest:

Just a few bits as time allows for it...

Popular anger puts fat cat CEOs on the run (Breitbart.com)

Well let me give a hearty "amen" to that!!! I have said already in places other than this blog{1} that those who are responsible for this mess deserve not financial recompense but jail time. Moving on we come to this tidbit...

Obama campaign cracks down on misleading TV ads

Let me get this straight, the Obama campaign can dish it out but not take it??? This talk of a "Truth Squad" sounds a lot to me like the "Ministry of Truth" from Orwell's 1984. Nice to know "Chancellor Obama" susbscribes to an "all are entitled to free speech but some are more entitled to it than others" outlook. For all the talk of moonbat leftists about so-called "right wing fascism"{2} they sure love to implement such tactics themselves without concern for the blatant hypocrisy involved.

Notes:

{1} I will probably blog some of that stuff in the coming days.

{2} On the Logical Fallacy of the "Communist/Fascist" So-Called "Ideological Spectrum" (circa July 16, 2004)

Miscellaneous Musings on Threads of Interest:

To touch on a few brief bits on stuff from news stories in recent days...

McCain slams Obama 'lack of leadership' on finance, Iraq

Here is a taste...

"Whether it's a reversal in war, or an economic emergency, he reacts as a politician and not as a leader, seeking an advantage for himself instead of a solution for his country," McCain said.

I wish I could say this assessment appeared to be wrong but unfortunately I cannot. It seems to me -and in spite of problems I have with some of his views as enunciated on this weblog over the years{1}- that the only one of the two presidential candidates who is focusing on something bigger than themselves is Sen. McCain. And this next thread gives even more evidence of this -fresh off the presses as of today:

McCain Suspends Campaign To Focus on Economy; Wants Debate Delay

Here is the text of that link:

America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.

Last Friday, I laid out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns with the bill the Administration has put forward. Senator Obama has expressed his priorities and concerns.This morning, I met with a group of economic advisers to talk about the proposal on the table and the steps that we should take going forward.I have also spoken with members of Congress to hear their perspective.

It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration' proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved.I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.

Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.

If Sen. Obama is willing to join Sen. McCain on this then I would be willing to reassess my view of him as noted in the previous part of this thread at least somewhat. I would only hope that there are caps of some sort put on executive packages because though I am not begrudging anyone their ability to make money, those who screwed this up do not deserve to go unscathed lest they fail to learn from what happened.{2}

Moving from a presidential candidate to a vice presidential candidate story we have this one:

Did NBC Go Too Far With Todd Palin Incest Jokes

In a word, yes because not only is this beyond tasteless but because if the shoe was on the other foot, NBC would not have done this.{3} What part of leaving the families out of this do many not understand???

Biden Calls Obama Ad Attacking McCain "Terrible"

Having made our views noted on the selection of Sen. Joe Biden already{4}, it would be remiss on our part to not recognize Sen. Biden's initial (and laudable) revulsion with regards to one of the Obama campaign's ads. Or as we noted in a recent blog posting on (among other things) the subject of that ad:

McCain is a war hero. PERIOD. That war wounds prevent him due to injuries from doing some things all that well is a given but to mock that is disgusting. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa September 15, 2008)]

But then as deserving of thumbs up for that stance as Sen. Biden earned initially, he ruined it by changing his mind and proving that politics trumps conscience in his universe which is one more example of why so many people are sick of this kind of politicing.

Moving on to a much more substantive issue, there is also the subject of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac campaign contributions and an attempt by The New York Times to claim that members of Sen. McCain's campaign were receiving such contributions. As the McCain campaign has responded to these assertions, I direct you to their link below in what would appear to be a very thorough debunking{5}:

A Partisan Paper of Record (www.JohnMcCain.com)

Here is some of that response:

The New York Times charges that McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis was paid by Freddie Mac until last month, contrary to previous reporting, as well as statements by this campaign and by Mr. Davis himself.

In fact, the allegation is demonstrably false. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis separated from his consulting firm, Davis Manafort, in 2006. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis has seen no income from Davis Manafort since 2006. Zero. Mr. Davis has received no salary or compensation since 2006. Mr. Davis has received no profit or partner distributions from that firm on any basis -- weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual -- since 2006. Again, zero. Neither has Mr. Davis received any equity in the firm based on profits derived since his financial separation from Davis Manafort in 2006.

Further, and missing from the Times' reporting, Mr. Davis has never -- never -- been a lobbyist for either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Mr. Davis has not served as a registered lobbyist since 2005.

And of course The New York Times does not seem interested in telling people that Sen. Barack Obama has been the recipient of the third highest amount of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 1989!!! If any more evidence was needed that there is partisanship and not quality journalism taking place at The New York Times then this supplies yet another example in the long scroll of what could be noted if not for lack of time and concern for sanity on our part.

Moving on we come to a piece that I referenced part of a few days ago on the weblog{6} but with more context. For those who were unaware, Ed Morrissey, former captain of Captain's Quarters now writes for the Hot Air site since (I believe) Bryan Preston went to do producing for The Laura Ingraham Show.{7} Nonetheless, he covered something recently which I want to reference at this time; namely the position of Sen. McCain on reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and how he was on board this idea from an early point in time.{8} Here is some of a Senate speech given by Sen. McCain over two years ago:

Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae’s regulator reported that the company’s quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were “illusions deliberately and systematically created” by the company’s senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight’s report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae’s former chief executive officer, OFHEO’s report shows that over half of Mr. Raines’ compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator’s examination of the company’s accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs–and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO’s report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO’s report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation. [Sen. John McCain (circa May 25, 2006)]

We at Rerum Novarum are unaware of any similarly pro-active attempts by Sen. Obama to do anything about this problem before the pot boiled over; ergo we wonder how anyone could somehow trust that Sen. Obama who was asleep at the switch on this issue back then can be trusted to be put in a position to try and fix the problem.

Notes:

{1} Heck, the post tag reading "John McCain" on this posting will take the reader to the ones that have been noted on this weblog.

{2} When I blog some of my comments from a previous discussion on these matters it will spell things out a bit more but the bottom line is this: country before politics as far as I am concerned.

{3} Not that a joke about Obama or his family in a similar vein would be acceptable of course. (It would not.)

{4} On Senator Barack Obama's Choice of Joseph Biden For Running Mate (circa August 30, 2008)

{5} The New York Times article is linked to in the McCain response. Since it does not appear that they did much in the way of even elementary research on their article, I do not view them as deserving the credibility of a live link directly.

{6} Points to Ponder (circa September 20, 2008)

{7} It is with regret that I announce that Bryan Preston has left the company. He has chosen to take a position as a producer with the Laura Ingraham radio show. We thank him for all the time and talent he devoted to making Hot Air a success. Please wish him all the best in his new endeavors...

We’ll be announcing an exciting new addition to Hot Air tomorrow morning. Stay tuned. [Excerpt from HotAir (circa February 24, 2008)]

{8} Not that this is the earliest point in time to which Sen. McCain can be shown to have been informed about as well as concerned about the problem of course.

Another Thread on the Upcoming Election:

This is a continuation of sorts from a series of previous threads viewable in a footnote below.{1} It constitutes an email I sent to some friends privately. My words from the note will be in dark blue font.

Obama leads from 0-6 points now depending on which poll you look at...

...probably because of the week's economic news for the most part. I do not expect that to hold. (Would be curious to know how Mason-Dixon Polling has the race but I digress.) Here are the numbers as of yesterday via Real Clear Politics:

RCP Average	09/09 - 09/19	--	47.6	45.3	Obama +2.3
Gallup Tracking	09/17 - 09/19	2756 RV	50	44	Obama +6
Rasmussen Tracking	09/17 - 09/19	3000 LV	48	47	Obama +1
Hotline/FD Tracking	09/17 - 09/19	922 RV	45	44	Obama +1
Battleground Tracking	09/11 - 09/18	800 LV	47	47	Tie
CBS News/NY Times	09/12 - 09/16	LV	49	44	Obama +5
Quinnipiac	09/11 - 09/16	987 LV	49	45	Obama +4
Pew Research	09/09 - 09/14	2307 LV	46	46	Tie
Reuters/Zogby	09/11 - 09/13	1008 LV	47	45	Obama +2

See All General Election: McCain vs. Obama Polling Data

The average of the above polls is Obama by 2.3 points which is not much. It is certainly not boding well for The One if McCain somehow pulls into a tie or slightly leads going into the first debate.

Meanwhile, the McCain camp is starting to focus on foreign policy stuff such as this ad about someone Obama would agree to "meet with no conditions." My Chavez loving [relative] would find that reassuring but I cannot imagine most Americans who are on the fence would.

But it all does not matter because if Obama loses, it is not cause of his quasi-marxism but instead we are racists guys, that has already been decreed. If that proclamation from the msm does not tell you that they are panicking in moonbatville, nothing else will.

Note:

{1} Namely, these threads:

Dialogue on Sen. Obama, Sen. McCain, Basic Economics, and the Upcoming Election With Kevin Tierney (circa September 15, 2008)

On Sen. Hillary Clinton and Her Being "On Board" for Sen. Obama (circa September 14, 2008)

Points to Ponder:

If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole. [John McCain (circa May 25, 2006)]