Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktVital Statistics:
| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1435.8 | 5.2 | 0.36% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 2568.4 | 10.7 | 0.42% |
| Oil (WTI) | 97.4 | 0.2 | 0.24% |
| LIBOR | 0.394 | -0.005 | -1.13% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 79.74 | -0.113 | -0.14% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 1.74% | 0.03% | |
| RPX Composite Real Estate Index | 193.2 | 0.1 |
Markets are buoyant this morning after a German Court ruled against efforts to block a european rescue fund. Apple is unveiling the iPhone 5 today as well. Mortgage applications rose, while import prices fell. Bonds are down about 3/4 of a point and MBS are down 1/4 or so.
The FOMC starts their two day meeting today, and will release their decision tomorrow around noon. The market expectations are for an extension of ZIRP into 2015 and a new round of bond buying. Given the run we have had in the stock market, we are possibly setting ourselves up for disappointment or a “buy the rumor, sell the fact” reaction.
If you live in a state with judicial foreclosures (e.g. New York, New Jersey, Florida), you may find that it will cost you more to get a mortgage. Acting FHFA Chairman Ed DeMarco has suggested that Fan and Fred increase their guarantee fees in these states to compensate the fund for the elongated timelines. (It can take 5 years to complete the entire process in NY, while in non-judicial states like AZ the process can be done in 2). JP Morgan estimates that the proper compensation would be 10 – 20 basis points up front. FHFA intends to put the policy out for comment in the near future, where it will undoubtedly get panned by housing advocates.
WaPo has a long background piece on the CFPB and what it is up to (spraying lenders with subpoenas).
Foreclosure auctions are attracting big institutional money. Colony, Blackstone, Och-Ziff and Oaktree have raised $8 billion for the activity. The plan is to rent them out of drip them out slowly into a rising housing market. In an era of ZIRP, high single digit rental yields are appealing to yield starved investors.
Filed under: Morning Report |
All Things in Moderation 
Considering the weight of events this morning, I really believe that my previous judgement to get out of all areas of the market not very sensitive to monetary policy was correct.
I would guess that this week may be the equities high for the year, except as noted above. I would not be at all surprised if the S&P trades flat to down for the rest of the year.
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“Romney showed some appreciation for the opening handed him last night, releasing a statement that read: “I’m outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi. It’s disgraceful that the Obama Administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”
In other words, a candidate for president against the incumbent decided to use the occasion of the death of four Americans overseas to boost his own political chances, without so much as offering condolences to the families of those killed first.
Proving, once again, why he is universally considered an opportunistic a-hole without principles, who will never be president.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/president-obamas-statement-on-benghazi-attack/2012/09/12/d3835df6-fcd3-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html?hpid=z1
DJ, is this the statement the R nominee for POTUS criticized? WTF?
Perhaps he confused the actual President’s stated sympathy for the families of the victims for sympathy for the devil. He seems easily confused, but speaks with certainty, nevertheless.
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In the aftermath of the Apple victory over Samsung in the USA, customers have realized they can get the same features cheaper on a Samsung Galaxy, and sales are booming. – NPR this morning
addendum – TX is a “non-judicial” state and foreclosure is a roughly three month process. Freeing the home for resale might take two years, however, because a homesteader has that long to buy it back – paying a substantial interest charge above the foreclosure price, however.
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I believe it was this: http://egypt.usembassy.gov/pr091112.html
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NVH: I can see how a man as easily confused as the R nominee for POTUS might have mistaken the American embassy in Cairo’s statement, attempting to calm waters in Cairo by condemning religious hatred, for sympathy for the killers of our Ambassador to Lybia.
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mark:
I can see how a man as easily confused as the R nominee for POTUS might have mistaken the American embassy in Cairo’s statement, attempting to calm waters in Cairo by condemning religious hatred, for sympathy for the killers of our Ambassador to Lybia.
The White House has since disavowed the embassy’s statements. Perhaps Obama is “confused” as well.
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Mark:
Just to clarify, do you equate “hurting the religious feelings of Muslims” with “religious hatred”? Do you, like the reps at the Cairo embassy, think that it is an “abuse” of the right to freedom of speech to, say, make a movie that “hurt(s) the religious beliefs of others”?
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matk and ash:
Who knows? There were some deleted tweets by the embassies that you can see here:
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/us-embassy-in-cairo-deletes-tweets-after-protestors
I think that generally speaking, we are wrong IF, the big if, we express sympathy for Muslims who are offended over our 1st amendment rights. That is with the caveat of two things, first that is we have to figure out exactly who is speaking, and second, that the day of the killings is not the day to speak out against the president as he formulates a policy response.
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“Adrienne Pine was in a jam. The assistant anthropology professor at American University was about to begin teaching “Sex, Gender & Culture,” but her baby daughter woke up in the morning with a fever. The single mother worried that she had no good child-care options.
So Pine brought her sick baby to class. The baby, in a blue onesie, crawled on the floor of the lecture hall during part of the 75-minute class two weeks ago, according to the professor’s account. The mother extracted a paper clip from the girl’s mouth at one point and shooed her away from an electrical outlet. A teaching assistant held the baby and rocked her at times, volunteering to help even though Pine stressed that she didn’t have to. When the baby grew restless, Pine breast-fed her while continuing her lecture in front of 40 students. . . . In the Sept. 5 essay, Pine wrote that she was “shocked and annoyed that this would be considered newsworthy.” She lamented that her workplace had suddenly become “a hostile environment.” She also upbraided journalists at the Eagle student newspaper — which, as of Tuesday afternoon, had not published any article on the matter — and wrote that the tone of a reporter’s questions implied an “anti-woman” view.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/american-university-professor-breast-feeds-sick-baby-in-class-sparking-debate/2012/09/11/54a06856-fc12-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_story.html?tid=pm_pop
This isn’t about breast-feeding, it’s about stupidity. We all have made stupid paretning mistakes, especially with the first kid. Schools are the greatest germ factories in the country and the last place you want to bring a sick kid is into one, for their sake and the sake of the students.
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Romney’s statement was despicable and stupid, but Reince Priebus’ was even worse:
That whole campaign has gone beyond the pale this morning.
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scott;
but we don’t know under what circumstances those tweets went out. Hard to imagine they were from the president himself, since he has his own account.
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Scott, BHO is not easily confused. The Embassy statement was ill timed, but not stupid in and of itself, so it might be more accurate to say BHO was easily cowed.
EDIT
hurt feelings – I see your point, Scott. I don’t know what the actual film said, so cannot get to the merits of your question, but the Cairo Embassy was obviously trying to dampen hostility in Cairo, at that moment. And I agree with DJ that what sounds like official government condemnation of “abuse” of free speech is questionable, in and of itself.
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banned:
Hard to imagine they were from the president himself, since he has his own account.
Hard to imagine that even those that come from his own account are actually from him, personally.
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On the other hand one can only presume that there is no word for “irony” in Arabic, since everytime some nobody accuses Muslims of having a violent religion, they conduct violent demonstrations and kill people in response.
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It is my understanding that there is, in fact, no concept of irony in Arabic.
Any Arabic speakers, here?
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C’mon, you MIchigan people should need Arabic practically as second language!
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The worst part of the Libya/Egypt thing is that the filmmaker (Bacile) has gone into hiding. Pussy. If you are intentionally going to inflame Muslims, have the balls to stand up for yourself instead of using the US diplomatic corps as a shield.
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Another reason to hate this market
If you check, the calls on Apple are falling off a table this morning, while the puts are leaping across every strike price and time frame.
Gvien that Apple has become the big driver of the NASDAQ, the introduction of the Iphone 5 this week will inevitably cause a sell off in Apple stock and kill the NASDAQ for possibly 30 days or so.
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The filmmaker did nothing wrong. The correct statement from the Obama administration is “people secure in their religious beliefs do not riot because some nobody made a movie in another country.”
I think the outrage on the right is based on this little nugget from the President’s statement:
“While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.”
This is completely wrong. The proper response to someone who storms an embassy because of some nonsensical “offense” is to met them with lethal force, courtesy of the USMC. The first one over the wall should have had his head blown off.
And since when does Obama give a shit about belittling the religious beliefs of others. If you’re Catholic then we belittle your beliefs in federal law. I guess because when we take offense we write a strongly worded letter and don’t storm embassies. Maybe we should have stormed HHS. doesn’t respect us. might as well fear us.
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nova:
And since when does Obama give a shit about belittling the religious beliefs of others
Perhaps the easily confused Democratic president uses the term “religious beliefs” when what he actually means is “Muslim beliefs”.
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The first one over the wall should have had his head blown off.
Agreed. But I think we had no USMC contingent, or not a large enough one, to defend the place. Anyone know for sure?
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From Jake Tapper, no friend of the president:
“But GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney will likely face questions of his own today, not only about his foreign policy views (Romney had at least five different positions on Libya as of last October) but about his statesmanship.
Before news spread that four Americans had been killed in Benghazi, Romney yesterday issued a statement saying in part: “It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”
This is an attack that does not stand up to simple chronology.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/the_politics_of_the_attacks_on_the_us_consulate_in_benghazi_and_cair/
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banned:
This is an attack that does not stand up to simple chronology.
If what Tapper says is correct, then this attack doesn’t stand up to simple chronology either.
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BTW, full disclosure, my cousin works for the State Department in the Cairo embassy.
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The most trenchant criticism would have been that the Embassy was under secured. I just heard we are sending combat Marines to be stationed in the building. Closing the barn door, and all that. Scott, I hope Cairo gets a combat contingent, too.
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“The proper response to someone who storms an embassy because of some nonsensical “offense” is to met them with lethal force, courtesy of the USMC. The first one over the wall should have had his head blown off.”
Which would almost certainly be followed by the death of everyone inside. You realize that Embassy guards have very little in the way of numbers and munitions, right?
Without the immediate concerted efforts of the host country’s military or police, there can be no adequate armed response to a mob numbering in the tens of thousands, outside fortified compounds like Baghdad.
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nova:
If you’re Catholic then we belittle your beliefs in federal law.
You’re really going to equate the anti-Mohammed movie, which was intended to show Islam in the worst possible light, with narrowing the religious exemption for contraceptive coverage? You don’t think that is even a little over the top?
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Mike:
You don’t think that is even a little over the top?
Obama’s disrespect of Catholic sensitivities is even worse, because he is using the law to enforce that disrespect. No one is forcing Muslims to go see the movie.
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I’m a first amendment absolutist and a filmmaker has ever right to make a movie belittling whatever religion he wants. Life of Brian, Last Temptation of Christ, Religiousity anyone? That said, the filmmaker is then on his own defending his works against charges of bigotry. I can’t imagine anyone making a film based on the Protocols of Zion.
I used to have debates with a Muslim coworker on the role of free speech and his culture definitely does not respect it as much as we do.
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I can’t imagine anyone making a film based on the Protocols of Zion.
I believe it has been done…
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““While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.””
I’m just waiting for him to call them “students” for the circle to be complete.
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scott
Any word on if everyone is going to be ok?
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banned:
Last I heard all was OK there.
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Not at all. One is a direct attack on the ability of a religious people to practice their faith. It’s basically “save it for Sunday. Your contributions are unwelcome and we don’t respect the work you do.”
The other is nothing. It did nothing to the ability to Muslims to practice their faith, here or anywhere else in the world.
“which was intended to show Islam in the worst possible light”
I think the rioters managed to do that themselves.
Further — by even acknowledging the movie and/or criticizing it, the administration makes it seem like the government is responsible for or endorsing the movie. this just turns into a vicious cycle.
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In 2002, Egypt’s government-sponsored television aired a miniseries based on the Protocols, an event condemned by the US State Department. The Palestinian organization Hamas draws in part on the Protocols to justify its terrorism against Israeli civilians.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007058
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The above attacks on Obama vis a vis contraception leave out one vital point. This does not apply to churches themselves but to secular institutions they operate.
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there’s nothing — nothing — secular about those institutions. that’s the whole point.
those hospital beds might as well be pews.
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I’ve spent plenty of time in catholic hospitals, don’t seem all the “secular” to me.
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In 2002, Egypt’s government-sponsored television aired a miniseries based on the Protocols, an event condemned by the US State Department.
Thanks, troll. Has it ever been shown or aired in the US?
As that article states, the Protocols are taken seriously in the Arab and Muslim world. I still find anti-Catholic Chick tracts around. Religious bigotry is always the most virulent and vicious type. Find the irony where you will.
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“I’ve spent plenty of time in catholic hospitals, don’t seem all the “secular” to me.”
Really? You mean they only treat and employ Catholics?
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or perhaps they only accept insurance money from Catholic funds, not the Federal government?
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“Romney holds a press conference in which he holds it together for 2 minutes looking presidential (finally remembering to offer condolences) and then comes completely unglued essentially calling for more shovels, finding that he cannot dig a hole for himself fast enough nor deep enough.”
(I linked Benen for video convenience, not because I’m a fan as you know)
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/12/13829269-romney-digs-deeper-after-libya-debacle
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The new law requiring contraceptive coverage applies to every organization whether they receive federal funds or not. outside of the limited religious exemption. so those hospitals could stop taking federal dollars, but they’d still be subject to the requirement.
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The new law requiring contraceptive coverage applies to every organization whether they receive federal funds or not. outside of the limited religious exemption.
They just need to go back to only staffing their hospitals with nuns. Problem solved. You’re welcome.
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Fox and Friends walk back their misleading ‘real’ unemployment statistics.
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nova:
If they want to be exempt, all they have to do is self-insure their employees, and then they will not be covered under the ruling. BUT like not allowing labor unions that they publicly favor, would cost them money, so they won’t do that.
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The logical response to the attacks would be to cut off all foreign aid and withdraw our staff from their countries. There’s no reason we have to have any involvement there whatsoever. If they wish to burn stuff and protest within their own borders, fine by me.
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The logical response to the attacks would be to cut off all foreign aid and withdraw our staff from their countries
Something tells me that is your recommended policy whether our embassy was attacked or not.
I guarantee that future foreign aid is being very not subtly mentioned in discussions on how their government is going is going to protect our embassy from unruly mobs.
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Self-insured groups are not exempt.
and if we opted out completely, who is going to treat the patients?
or would you just seize our facilities for the public good?
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nova:
“The coverage will be provided by the companies that review and pay claims — “third-party administrators” — or by “some other independent entity,” it said”
You misunderstood I believe. That means the institutions themselves will not be responsible for the payments.
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You guys are seriously going to compare providing contraceptive coverage to the killing of four US embassy personnel?
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Mich:
You guys are seriously going to compare providing contraceptive coverage to the killing of four US embassy personnel?
No. We are seriously comparing making a movie about Islam with forcing Catholic institutions to do something contrary to their religious convictions. And there really isn’t a comparison. The latter is worse.
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Does anybody here think these two embassy attacks were really over a youtube movie?
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It’s about how we deal with religion in the public square.
And in this case, “the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others” — My argument is that we do not. some, apparently, are more equal than others. meaning if you make a movie about Muslims, the administration will admonish you. but if you want to provide health care? Suddenly, religious sensibilities are not at all important.
There’s a disconnect there.
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nova:
I am with you about the administration being overly concerned in general (not today) about Muslim sensibilities, as we have brought up before about the awful Eric Holder.
I would seperate that as being more about foreign policy than about domestic law, at least in THEIR eyes.
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I guess I picked the wrong day to want to chat about the economy, eh?
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I don’t know why I made the connection. but after the immediate shock, it’s the first place my mind went. I guess I does seem odd.
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If what Tapper says is correct
Do you have some reason to think Tapper’s chronology is incorrect? Even the Romney campaign quickly pointed to the Twitter statements. An obvious acknowledgment that the Embassy statement occurred before the attack.
I’m curious as to what you think supports this statement: ” It’s disgraceful that the Obama Administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.” Do you agree that this is in fact what occurred?
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Thanks, Ashot – that was my original point about the R nominee for POTUS. It got lost in the embassy discussion and I got sidetracked by w-w-ork.
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mark:
the R nominee for POTUS
I’m curious why you keep saying this instead of simply saying Romney.
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ashot:
Do you have some reason to think Tapper’s chronology is incorrect?
Not at all.
Do you agree that this is in fact what occurred?
Nope. If I understand the timeline correctly, it seems they were sympathizing with the attackers even before the attackers became attackers.
FYI, I think Romney has made a political mistake with this statement. But I don’t think it’s some shocking “OMG how could he possibly have attacked Obama in such a way” moment. The statement the embassy put out was stupid, whether it came before or after the attacks. Which, presumably, is why Obama has disavowed it.
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The statement the embassy put out was stupid, whether it came before or after the attacks.
And perhaps would and could be the focus of the discussion except for the fact that Romney and his campaign in correctly claimed it was the Administrations first response to the attack. There are plenty of stupid political statements put out there by politician. I think what Romney did is less common. He grossly overreached immediatly after a tragedy. He has not backed down from the statement so it will be interesting to see whether or not repeating the same thing over and over again will make people forget about the inaccurate statement the first time.
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ashot:
except for the fact that Romney and his campaign in correctly claimed it was the Administrations first response to the attack.
Agreed. They were incorrect.
I think what Romney did is less common.
I disagree. He (or more likely someone at his campaign) heard about the attacks, and assumed the embassy statement was put out after rather than before the attacks. A stupid mistake but hardly the first or worst such mistake.
He grossly overreached immediatly after a tragedy.
Again, if Tapper’s timeline is correct, you are wrong. The tragedy was unknown at the time the original Romney statement was put out. (I did not see Romeny’s news conference, so I can’t comment on what he said then.)
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The tragedy was unknown at the time the original Romney statement was put out. (I did not see Romeny’s news conference, so I can’t comment on what he said then.)
What tragedy was unknown? Romney obviously new the attack had occured because he criticized the Adminstration’s first response after the attack. Are you saying when the first statement went out he didn’t know people had died? I suppose that excuses him from offering condolences in his first statement, but Romney’s press conference contained the same false line about the Administration’s first response. From what I can tell Hillary’s statement was the first from the Administration unless you are going to try and say the tweets were the first response were the first response.
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ashot:
What tragedy was unknown?
The killing of the ambassador and three others, of course.
Are you saying when the first statement went out he didn’t know people had died?
Yes. If Tapper’s time line is correct, that was the case.
From what I can tell Hillary’s statement was the first from the Administration unless you are going to try and say the tweets were the first response
Since the post-attack tweets, including one that reiterated the pre-attack statement, came before Hillary’s statement, it is hard to argue that they were not the first response. Unless you are going to argue that embassy statements are not meant to represent the administration. Which would be an odd argument if, as I believe is the case, the heads of overseas embassies are appointed by and report to the administration.
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The killing of the ambassador and three others, of course.
I would consider an attack on the embassay a tragedy regardless of any killings. I am not trying to pick a fight and say you think otherwise. I’m just trying to make sure I understand your point. Like I said, that arguably excuses Romney’s failure to do anything other than criticize Obama in his first statement. I could nitpick a little bit, but if I’m being honest, if it was the Democratic candidate who had done this, I would (hopefully) be critical of the inaccurate first statement and give him/her the benefit of the doubt on the other aspects of the statement.
Unless you are going to argue that embassy statements are not meant to represent the administration.
I guess my argument would be slightly different that they are not meant to represent the administration. I think it’s hard a sell to the public that tweets written during an attack are the responsibility of Obama. And perhaps more importantly that isn’t what Romney should be trying to sell. He should be selling that the attack shows Obama’s policies are failing. He’s obviously selling that, too, but that’s not the focus. And maybe my treatment of this issu thus far is as much at fault as Romney for that not being the focus. To that end. I’m going to poke around the internet and see if I can find some articles exploring what/if any role Obama’s policies played in leading to this attack. Hopefully I find something and maybe I can write a post focusing on something other than Romney’s statement.
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ashot:
And perhaps more importantly that isn’t what Romney should be trying to sell.
I agree. As I said, I do think Romney made a political mistake.
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And today’s statement is just part of a trend. (Warning, Don Juan–Benen link!)
This man shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the White House.
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“Its thinner! It has a 4 inch screen!”
Guess that wasn’t enough to please the crowd…
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Let’s put it this way. George Bush was the worst foreign policy bungler of our lifetime and even HE would never have made himself look as bad as Romney did today.
Once again through sheer stupidity and incompetence, he took any question of the President’s policies and shoved them in the background by making himself look like a complete ass.
How he can manage to take the heat off Obama in so many ways is the eight wonder of the world!
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brent
The Apple puts were too expensive and shorting the stock was too risky but NASDAQ 100 puts were looking good!
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Sep expiry?
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22nd, yep, actually the Apple puts were expensive for the next 3 options expiration dates
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at least Romney took questions.
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Does anybody here think these two embassy attacks were really over a youtube movie?
Yes and no. As we well know, fundamentalists Muslims (and many mainstream ones) are notoriously thin-skinned over what qualifies as blasphemy. Just ask Salman Rushdie. On the other hand, it doesn’t take much to whip a pre-primed mob into a frenzy. As to who or what is coordinating this outrage, we may never quite understand all the machinations at work.
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Guess that wasn’t enough to please the crowd…
As I told my disappointed Apple fanboy coworker, you can only change the world once a decade or so.
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Facebook is up about 12-13% in two days on Zuckerberg comments.
Sue, if you’re lurking, not yet, it will go back down again.
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“at least Romney took questions.”
Narrative’s been set, only a wingnut would try and change it.
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My own vote for Johnson is secure unless he changes his mind on civil liberties. If he gets in the debate, he probably helps WMR more than BHO, b/c his natural constituency is under 30. He really was a good Gov. of NM. He did compromise with his D Lege, but he moved them – inched them – in his direction. I think his polling in NM may hurt BHO more than WMR, too.
I previously thought WMR was smarter than I think he is now.
And while my admiration for BHO’s first term extends to FP and GM, I think without Gates his FP may not stand the test next time. OTOH, I think WMR’s pronouncements on security and FP are worthy of sincere derision. So I would prefer an Admin with a now experience POTUS who took Gates’ counsel than this fawning pawn of Netanyahu.
John Huntsman would have been unbeatable, in retrospect.
Edit – Scott, I just saw your ? to me. I was trying to emphasize that this was not simply a candidate blowing smoke but an actual nominee with a near 50% chance of becoming POTUS. It was the sort of attack that a Bachmann might have made early on, but we are in the homestretch, and when an Ambassador is killed in an American Embassy the first response of a serious nominee is sympathy for the family, and the second should be a call for more security in the embassies. You think that too, I’ll bet.
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Does anybody here think these two embassy attacks were really over a youtube movie?
The theories are already out there:
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George
Do you think Paul Ryan is second guessing himself now?
Funny, he just spent a ton of money on ads in Wisconsin . . . to get himself re-elected to the House.
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Wonder if anybody’ll ask about this?
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/09/12/Exclusive-Obama-Skipped-Intel-Briefings-Week-Before-Embassy-Attacks
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This is crazy. parsing Romney’s statement when an ambassador is killed on Obama’s watch.
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Wonder if anybody’ll ask about this?
Pure Rovian Reversal Response. I expect that nonsense from Breitbart’s crew.
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Biden did the same thing in 2008, so what? The last one to go all in was that arch, ultra-mega conservative, who would govern to the right of Goldwater Bob Dole who can now be safely referred to as a sane Republican.
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John Huntsman would have been unbeatable, in retrospect.
Too bad he was un-nominatable.
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nova
“This is crazy. parsing Romney’s statement when an ambassador is killed on Obama’s watch”
Yes, which is why Romney should never have issued it. If you watch the first two minutes of his press conference this morning he was letter perfect . . . and from there on in acted like Greg Norman on the final day of the Masters circa 1996.
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No, which is why the press should be demanding answers from the President.
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George
Biden was trying to hand the seat over to his son if you’ll recall, our own version of an aristocracy (and you know how I feel about that!). I’m not blaming Ryan. He’s doing the right thing for him.
But when a guy commits 2 million to ads for a seat that he has had in the bag for 12 years when he’s running for a different seat, it would suggest that he isn’t getting VP cards made up right now, or that he senses things are shaky for the GOP in Wisconsin in general. Either way, not good news.
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“But when a guy commits 2 million to ads for a seat that he has had in the bag for 12 years when he’s running for a different seat, it would suggest that he isn’t getting VP cards made up right now, or that he senses things are shaky for the GOP in Wisconsin in general. Either way, not good news.”
I literally do not understand your point other than you’re trying to maintain a narrative I have said is wrong. Whatever, it’s your narrative, have a ball. I was unaware that when one accepted an invitation to join a ticket one only does so with the full knowledge that one wins. I had no idea you believed that Paul Ryan is omniscient. That logic sounds a lot like Obama’s purported faith in his own ability to persuade the Republicans a la the debt deal, and therefore felt no need to have a Plan B.
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He can’t spend the money he’s raised for anything other than the house seat. might as well spend it.
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Wonder if anybody’ll ask about this?
Oh, please, McWing–they’re working off of his public schedule–you think he isn’t in intel briefings all the time that aren’t on the public schedule?
And Breitbart–you’re worthy of better than this1
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“No, which is why the press should be demanding answers from the President.”
Nova, only a teabagger would believe the President’s response (or lack thereof) is more important than the Republican nominee’s.
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“And Breitbart–you’re worthy of better than this1”
How many people have been fired from Breitbart due to plagerism and fraud vs., say, the NYT?
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George:
As the Joker says why so serious? (on Ryan)
I’m just keeping up our own running dialogue that won’t end until the GOP starts to ask, after November, so if we couldnt’ win this time, against this guy, how on earth does it make sense to go more conservative in 2016?
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Banned, are you saying that Romney is conservative? Or are you saying that Ryan is actually going to be the person that sets policy? Because if you believe either of those statements than you and I have a completely different understanding of what a conservative is and what the role of the VP is.
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I am starting to read about this Embassy stuff. Thanks, YJ, for the link earlier.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-cairo-and-libya-attacks-point-to-radicals-jockeying-for-power/2012/09/12/d0d687d2-fcff-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html?hpid=z1
Interesting.
I think JNC’s response is too much, and in the wrong season, tentatively.
I used to subscribe to a security newsletter. The company was hacked [!] and my credit card was compromised. I quit them. They do have a public website. http://www.stratfor.com/
Mike may be still a subscriber. Sometimes they have stuff that turns out to be more accurate than everyone else publishes.
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George, Romney is a severe conservative [his words] or not [in the view of my conservative colleagues]. If my conservative colleagues are correct, WMR’s loss, if he loses, will have them calling for a more conservative R Party moving forward. This would echo 2008, when my conservative colleagues thought McC was not a true conservative, and blamed his loss on his perceived apostasy.
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And Breitbart–you’re worthy of better than this
I almost said the exact same thing.
How many people have been fired from Breitbart due to plagerism and fraud vs., say, the NYT?
That is because the NYT has ethical standards they stand by and enforce.
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yello:
That is because the NYT has ethical standards they stand by and enforce.
Which is how Walter Duranty lasted so long there.
And speaking of the NYT’s ethical standards, perhaps you might be interested in the etymology of the verb to dowdify.
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Breitbart’s scraping the bottom of the barrel, McWing.
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I almost said the exact same thing
Great minds, yello, great minds.
That is because the NYT has ethical standards they stand by and enforce
And I almost said that exact same thing! 🙂
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“Breitbart’s scraping the bottom of the barrel, McWing.”
Why?
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george
I am saying that Ryan is more conservative than Romney and if Romney can’t win against Obama in a poor economy then it would be crazy to nominate someone for president MORE conservative than Romney next time.
Did I explain it better that time? (i’m not being sarcastic btw)
It’s like if when McGovern lost in 1972 that the Dema had said we need somebody MORE liberal than him to win next time.
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Why?
If you have to ask, there is no use in explaining.
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Banned, no, you’re not making sense. It would arguably make sense if an actual conservative was on the top of the ticket and lost. McGovern’s loss, for example, can be attributed to his judgement a la Eagleton and particularly reneging on his “100% behind him” statement several days before. Also, i thought the meme was that Nixon used the (snicker) “southern strategy” to win. Finally, Nixon was an extremely liberal Republican who was governing somewhat left of center already, it’s would be hard to beat that from further left.
I don’t see how you would win an election against a left of center President by running a left of center Republican against him. How does that make any sense since there is really no contrast for the electorate to judge?
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“George, Romney is a severe conservative [his words] or not [in the view of my conservative colleagues]. If my conservative colleagues are correct, WMR’s loss, if he loses, will have them calling for a more conservative R Party moving forward. This would echo 2008, when my conservative colleagues thought McC was not a true conservative, and blamed his loss on his perceived apostasy.”
And how did 2010 work out for the GOP? Would you say they campaigned more conservatively?
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I think the Rs won the HoR running from the right in 2010, George. I am not necessarily saying a far right R would not do as well as a right center R in a GE. That depends on so many variables, over time.
I was merely suggesting that if my conservative colleagues and friends are an indicator of R grass roots, then the party will look to run further right in 2014 and 2016 if it loses the presidential race in November.
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“If you have to ask, there is no use in explaining.”
I stand here now a broken man. Powerful, powerful argument.
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And speaking of the NYT’s ethical standards, perhaps you might be interested in the etymology of the verb to dowdify.
I am the very last person on this blog you need to explain ‘dowdify’ to. Only Maureen is not the only person who practices it.
By the way, Romney has been a serial dowdifier ever since his first misquote from Obama on the economy to the entire “You Didn’t Build That” premise of the Republican convention.
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yello:
I am the very last person on this blog you need to explain ‘dowdify’ to.
Your defense of the NYT’s alleged ethical standards suggests quite the contrary.
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“I don’t see how you would win an election against a left of center President by running a left of center Republican against him. How does that make any sense since there is really no contrast for the electorate to judge?”
By that measure the last true conservative GOP nominee was Barry Goldwater. George Bush was certainly to the left of Paul Ryan, as was his father and Ronald Reagan.
Hey if you and the rest of the Republicans keep thinking that you’re not conservative enough to win the presidency, go right ahead. Personally, I don’t get the idea that, we just weren’t extreme enough to appeal to the independents, works but I applaud you for sticking to your principles.
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Powerful, powerful argument.
Breitbart was a duplicitous flunky of Matt Drudge whose sole role in setting up his own ‘independent’ website was to serve as a source for serving up unverifiable rumors, scurrilous talking points, and outright fabricated slanders for the Drudge Report to breathlessly hype so that Fox News could then put them into play as legitimate news stories. The site he founded is the bottom feeder in the right wing lie and hype machine.
His tactics have proven so successful that they have spawned an entire cottage industry of acolytes and imitators. Daily Caller comes to mind as the most successful of these. Despite his untimely death, his legacy of coarsening the political dialog will live long past him.
That better?
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“I was merely suggesting that if my conservative colleagues and friends are an indicator of R grass roots, then the party will look to run further right in 2014 and 2016 if it loses the presidential race in November.”
From your lips to God’s ears. However, if the feeling among the R establishment was that McCain lost by being a lib, why is Romney the nominee? How does Romney correct that mistake? I do not think the Republican party is run by the conservative wing of the party.
“By that measure the last true conservative GOP nominee was Barry Goldwater. George Bush was certainly to the left of Paul Ryan, as was his father and Ronald Reagan.
Hey if you and the rest of the Republicans keep thinking that you’re not conservative enough to win the presidency, go right ahead. Personally, I don’t get the idea that, we just weren’t extreme enough to appeal to the independents, works but I applaud you for sticking to your principles.”
From a fiscal standpoint, and I thought you claimed to be fiscally conservative, Goldwater was the last true conservative GOP nominee. How can it be argued otherwise? The rest were/are more or less social cons who believe that government power should be used for things other than a massive welfare state.
And thanks for your applause, it means a lot.
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“Breitbart was a duplicitous flunky of Matt Drudge whose sole role in setting up his own ‘independent’ website was to serve as a source for serving up unverifiable rumors, scurrilous talking points, and outright fabricated slanders for the Drudge Report to breathlessly hype so that Fox News could then put them into play as legitimate news stories. The site he founded is the bottom feeder in the right wing lie and hype machine.
His tactics have proven so successful that they have spawned an entire cottage industry of acolytes and imitators. Daily Caller comes to mind as the most successful of these. Despite his untimely death, his legacy of coarsening the political dialog will live long past him.
That better?”
I guess I admire all the examples of fraud and plagerism you provide the most. Almost as powerful as the ol’ “fuck you, that’s why” argument is. Almost.
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George – WMR has run as a fiscal and a social conservative. Although my two closest right wing friends think it is all an act and they opposed him, until it was a foregone conclusion. Both of them, btw, are fiscal cons. They do not care about those pesky social issues. One of them viscerally hates BHO and is convinced he is going to unleash Marxist hell. The other just wants to end the welfare state. All Ds, and moderates like me and Kev who would keep stuff we think is working, are just wrong, to him. I’d invite Lanny, but you and he would like each other too much. I wouldn’t invite Jack, b/c he sends me so much winger email now. Although I have liked Jack since HS, if he were here you would all get a lot of winger mail every day. My friend Andy, who used to be my neighbor til he retired from IBM, is a pure fiscal conservative, too, but he is into so much gloom and doom that he doesn’t think either party is worth shooting. He and I agree too often.
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george
I was serious about you being a consistent person and not wavering.
I just think that outside the House, where districts are carved up by both sides to appeal to narrowly philosophic voters, the extremism of the far right has no national appeal.
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banned:
the extremism of the far right has no national appeal.
You may be right, but I am curious what policies/positions you consider to be “extreme”.
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banned et al:
I’d like to pursue this left-wing myth that the Republican party has become “extreme” or more conservative in recent years.
40 years ago the notion that two people of the same sex might be allowed to legally get married was a pretty “extreme” position. Even as recently as just 4 years ago the Democratic nominee for president maintained a policy that marriage was defined as the legal union of a man and a woman only. This year, however, that same nominee, now the President and leader of his party, reversed his position and is now in favor of legally recognized same-sex marriages.
Can you think of any policy or position that, 40 years ago might have been of equal “extremism” to the notion of legally recognized same-sex marriage, which the Republican party as a whole or its leadership rejected then but embrace now?
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Banned, whatever, I mean “the extremism of the far right”? What would that be?
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Michelle Bachmann at the looney end, Paul Ryan at the respectable end.
Kind of like on the extreme left
it would be Maxine Waters on the looney end, and maybe Jack Reed on the respectable end?
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I guess I admire all the examples of fraud and plagerism you provide the most.
Oh, you wanted examples.
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scott:
more tax cuts, outlawing all abortions, little or no regulation of guns whatsoever, return to gold standard, military intervention in the MIddle East, not raising the debt limit,, restrictions on the Federal Reserve
off the top of my head
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Banned,
What policies and/or positions of Bachman and Ryan are representative of “the extremism of the right wing”?
Same question in regards to Waters and reed and the extremism of the left wing?
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george see above your post
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Mark,
I agree with your friends, Romney would govern from the left, it’s who he is. I don’t believe that he believe’s in any conservative positions he’s taking. I also thought that the prevailing media narrative was that Romney was not genuine and would adopt any politically convenient position, which, to me, is exactly what you’ve written that your friends believe.
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What policies and/or positions of Bachman and Ryan are representative of “the extremism of the right wing”?
Here are a few:
Elimination of the capital gains tax.
Personhood amendment
Eradication of the EPA
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Yello,
Did you read any of those Media Matters posts? Their highlighting their disagreement with opinions and interpretations that the writers at Brietbart came to. I’ve yet to see the evidence of fraud and or plagiarism. For example, they dismiss the conclusion that the Breitbart writer came to vis-a-vis the Mao ornament, that it was a political statement. We’re they (Media Matters) able to read the author’s mind to know it was false?
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Troll,
The entire Shirley Sherrod incident which put Bretibart on the map was a deliberate dowdification of her remarks in a blatantly misleading way. As was the O’Keefe takedown of ACORN. This sort of deception is their stock in trade.
I honestly can’t believe I am having to defend the ethics of the New York Times against Breitbart.
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scott
The world changes, but the GOP doesn’t want to change with it.
That is the heart of the problem.
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banned:
The world changes, but the GOP doesn’t want to change with it
This is close. The left changes but always views itself as normative. So as the left moves further and further left, it keeps accusing the right of “extremism” for not moving leftward with it.
So, yes, relative to current left-wing norms, the right is “extreme”, and perhaps even more “extreme” than it was 40 years ago. But that is because the left, not the right, has become more extreme. So let’s dispense with this notion that the right has “moved” further rightward.
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“Here are a few:
Elimination of the capital gains tax.
Personhood amendment
Eradication of the EPA”
I agree you think those represent “the extremism of the right wing.” Do you think those are new positions adopted by “the extremists” of the right wing?
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If we could get back to Romney for a second, here was the problem.
All he really had to do in this was offer condolences and get out of the way. Presuming you think that Obama screwed up, then that is exactly the focus that you want from the media. You want the questions to be toward him, not you.
So after running for president for 5-6 years now, Romney still doesn’t get it. Stop saying dumb things. As they say about scoring a touchdown, hand the ball to the refereee. Act like you’ve been there before.
Romney tried to do an end zone dance that put the spotlight on him. Bad move because he doesn’t do spotlight very well.
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Do you think those are new positions adopted by “the extremists” of the right wing?
They are new in that it is unimaginable that they would be seriously proposed by major political figures as recently as a decade or two ago.
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Where did Breitbart lie or commit fraud in regards to Sherrod or ACORN? For example, in Sherrod’s case, his point was that when she said she didn’t help the white farmer because of all the black farmer’s that had gotten screwed in the past, the audience, made up of NAACP members applauded her, as if they agreed with her that denying help to a farmer based on his, er, whiteness was appropriate.
Again, what specifically is the fraud in either example ? And who fired Sherrod, by the way, Brietbart?
By the way, have you read any of Brietbart’s work on the absolutely disgraceful Pigford settlement?
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Fed preview for tomorrow, anybody want to take a shot?
I’ll go with 2015 on the rates but I’m torn between bond purchases and charging the banks for reserves
Because I like dark horses. I’ll go with excess reserves.
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yello:
Eradication of the EPA
Well, you know who started the EPA. That leftist not-a-crook Nixon.
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Mike, do you still subscribe to Stratfor?
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Mark:
Not since that credit card hack. I wasn’t affected but it worried me.
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Can you think of any policy or position that, 40 years ago might have been of equal “extremism” to the notion of legally recognized same-sex marriage, which the Republican party as a whole or its leadership rejected then but embrace now?
That contraception should be illegal.
That voting rights should be suppressed when necessary to ensure victory in the states.
That there should be no gun control laws whatsoever.
Those spring to mind immediately, but not having been politically aware 40 years ago due to my lack of birthdays, I’d have to do some research on what the Party was voting on.
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Mich:
Those spring to mind immediately
Not a single one of those are policies embraced by R's as a whole or the party's leadership.
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“markinaustin, on September 12, 2012 at 12:59 pm said:
…
I think JNC’s response is too much, and in the wrong season, tentatively.”
I’d argue that Western democratic and free speech values are fundamentally incompatible with Islamist values. As such, we should adopt an attitude of “good fences make good neighbors”.
I tend to side with Ron Paul that our attempts to influence the Islamist world via military aid, etc. have been counterproductive over the long run. We can save money and a lot of grief by just abandoning it. No reason to be involved in the various civil wars there.
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scott
for a while there, Republicans were moving generally speaking with non-Republicans but they stopped. So in that sense, left and right are relative terms. I agree.
My father routinely says things in front of my kids that would have been quite normal in the 30s 40s and 50s but shock the hell out of them. I explain to them that if you live long enough, the world will outgrow you. You won’t be able to keep up.
Me, I’m still moving as fast as I can so far.
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banned:
for a while there, Republicans were moving generally speaking with non-Republicans but they stopped.
It is an interesting conceit of the left to believe that whatever they think at any given time is what everyone except the odd few on the right think.
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Scott:
They sure as hell do at the state level.
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Mich:
They sure as hell do at the state level.
If that is true in your own state (I doubt it is) and it bothers you, then you should move to one of the many (most) states in which it is not true. But as it regards the party nationally, your claims are plainly not true.
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Mich:
BTW, I wonder what makes you think that opposition to whatever gun control laws you would prefer today is more “extreme” than it was in 1972.
I also wonder what “voting rights” you think are under more “extremist” threat today than in 1972. I seriously cannot imagine.
It is also curious that you think opposition to legal birth control in the states is more of an issue today than it was a mere 5 years removed from the Supreme Court decision which made it impossible for states to outlaw it.
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jnc:
I tend to side with Ron Paul that our attempts to influence the Islamist world via military aid, etc. have been counterproductive over the long run. We can save money and a lot of grief by just abandoning it. No reason to be involved in the various civil wars there.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on that.
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“Michigoose, on September 12, 2012 at 3:17 pm said:
…
I agree with you wholeheartedly on that.”
Where should I have your Gary Johnson 2012 yard sign mailed to?
http://www.cafepress.com/+gary-johnson+yard-signs
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I remember when Obama’s gaffe in 2008, in which he used American deaths oversea’s to make political points in his campaign cost him the election.
http://freebeacon.com/candidates-and-crisis/
Wait,… What?
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I remember when Obama’s gaffe in 2008, in which he used American deaths oversea’s to make political points in his campaign cost him the election.
http://freebeacon.com/candidates-and-crisis/
To call that comparison a stretch would be kind. Obviously Romney is free to use the Cairo attack as evidence that Obama’s strategy is not working. But the statement everyone is questioning did not do that. It falsely claimed that the Administration’s first response was something other than it was which was a condmentation of the attack and lamenting the loss of life. See Hilary’s statement from last night.
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jnc–
And, living in UT, I can even vote for him!! LOL.
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Washington Post Editorial Page:
“J.CHRISTOPHER STEVENS, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, was a skilled and courageous diplomat who repeatedly placed himself at risk in order to support the cause of a democratic Libya. His death, along with those of three other Americans, during an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday is a tragedy that should prompt bipartisan support for renewed U.S. aid to Libyans who are struggling to stabilize the country.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-death-of-an-ambassador/2012/09/12/ed3b719e-fcfa-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html?hpid=z2
The last thing going through my mind at this point is renewed support for U.S. aid for Libya.
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Worth a read:
“Beware of Backfire
Striking Chicago teachers may turn Illinois into Wisconsin.
Christian Schneider
11 September 2012”
http://city-journal.com/2012/eon0911cs.html
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Some Republican politicians really, really hate the idea of gay people being happy:
From NBCNews.com
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Scott:
A personhood bill has been introduced into Congress at least once, and that would make several forms of contraception illegal. You and I both know that movements like that start at the state level and move up. It is a plank in the Republican platform.
You and I both also know that it falls outside the mainstream Republican voter’s POV, but the Party leadership is, indeed, moving to include extremist ideas.
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Mich:
You and I both know…
What I know, and what you should know, is that these “personhood” bills are attempts to prevent abortion in a post-Roe world. Of course, 40 years ago in a pre-Roe world, a state could, and indeed many did, outlaw abortion outright, and so would have no need for such personhood laws. Therefore, to suggest that these personhood laws represent an “extreme” change from 40 years ago is utterly absurd.
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EJ Dionne makes an interesting point:
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Warning, counter narrative,
http://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/12/obama-headin-to-vegas-for-campaign-rally-as-questions-mount-over-libya-intel-failures/
http://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/12/administration-officials-romney-was-right-that-statement-from-the-cairo-embassy-was-awful/
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John McCain shows Mitt Romney how a real statesman reacts to a tragedy:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/3907765
Well done, Senator McCain
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Another day, another US embassy stormed
Great.
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Kelley, the rise of Salafist [Saudi fundamentalist] Islam, the Saudi government’s funding of fundie elementary schools everywhere, and the denigration by Salafist Islam of secular education and the secular world is devastating. While most Libyans in the cities are urbane and secular, the group that attacked with heavy weapons were motivated by knee-jerk hate. Did you notice how deeply apologetic the Libyans were and how dismissive the Egyptian government was? Did you notice HRC’s response welcoming the pledge of support from the Libyan government and her silence about Egypt? I still think we have to treat each instance separately. There is something to be gained by maintaining cordial relations everywhere, of course, but helping a willing partner like the Libyan government is more satisfying than bribing an unwilling one like the Egyptians.
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As I said, I do think Romney made a political mistake.
Was Romney’s mistake the nature of the criticism (that Obama ‘sympathizes’ with the attackers) or the timing (rushing in on an unfolding foreign crisis)?
It seems to me that they had been getting stung lately with criticism that they were weak on foreign policy and had a line of attack they wanted to deploy but drastically jumped the gun on it and ended up looking both foolish and desperate.
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yello:
Was Romney’s mistake the nature of the criticism (that Obama ‘sympathizes’ with the attackers) or the timing (rushing in on an unfolding foreign crisis)?
Both, although the mistake I was referring to was the former.
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http://www.volokh.com/2012/09/12/all-of-you-who-harshly-condemn-anti-homosexuality-religious-beliefs-take-note/
This is the point I was trying to make yesterday. I’m afraid that the Obama Administration, like the Bush administration, is somewhat enabling a heckler’s veto that is doomed to fail. If — IF — the admin even wanted to acknowledge the video, its remarks should have been limited to defending the right for it to be made and aired. no comment should be made on the content.
[I hesitate to post and run, but i’m in meetings the rest of the day]
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Nova,
The Voltarean maxim of “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” is not an Islamic principle.
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“yellojkt, on September 13, 2012 at 8:41 am said:
Nova,
The Voltarean maxim of “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” is not an Islamic principle.”
Hence my admonishment to cease trying to somehow change them through engagement and foreign aid. Western democratic and free speech values are antithetical to Islamist ones.
A modest proposal:
Update Senator Claire McCaskill’s amendment on redirecting Afghanistan reconstruction aid to encompass all foreign aid, including military aid, to those countries where our embassies have been attacked and redirect 100% of it to an infrastructure bank similar to what the Obama administration proposed in the America Jobs Act. It would be deficit neutral and presumably generate American construction jobs.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/01/claire-mccaskill-afghanistan-infrastructure_n_1121565.html
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