Dave's Not Here, Man.....

Oh, sorry, wrong kinda pot.......

Best Argument for the ACLU?

Straight conservative men!

Jesus, what is wrong with prosecutors these days? Okay, in general.....

OUCH!

I don't think Steve Benen at Washington Monthly liked SC Gov Mark Sanford's WSJ op-ed this morning, explaining why he's rejecting the stimulus funds.

The problem, of course, is that Sanford is completely wrong. His analysis is not even close to reality, and it's unsupported by any evidence at all. But it at least offers us some insight into why a governor would deliberately choose to undermine the interests of his constituents -- he starts with a lack of economic understanding, follows it up by misdiagnosing the problem, and then concludes by making a misguided decision based on foolish assumptions.

Good to know.

The Main Event

Here's the video from last night's Daily show. It was sort of like the Ali fight.... Cramer doing the rope-a-dope, but he forgot to do the come-out-fighting thing at the end to win. Stewart, who seemed genuinely pissed (at the entire economic situation as much as at Cramer), was passionate and focused all the way through. Cramer mostly seemed to want to say I'm sorry as much as possible and go home.

I really like Cramer (as I've said, more as an author than a TV guy) and this was kind of sad. But, I guess, after the last 18 months or so, sorta deserved.



Here are the links to the individual unedited segments:
1 2 3

Thanks to DkosTV for archiving this stuff!

Update: Steve Benen in an insightful post on this at Political Animal sums it up well:

Cramer apparently went on the show to make nice and end the "feud." Stewart apparently had him on the show to expose how ridiculous and irresponsible CNBC is as a network. The result wasn't pretty, but as Alex Koppelman noted, it was "a riveting half-hour, something almost completely unlike anything else ever seen on television."

Watching the evisceration, I couldn't help but wonder why it takes a comedian on Comedy Central to do the kind of interview the non-fake news shows ought to be doing. When the media establishment marvels at Jon Stewart's popularity, they tend to think it's his humor. It's not. It's because he calls "bullsh*t" when most major media players won't. He did so last night, and it made for important viewing.

Cramer vs Not-Cramer Pt II

Well, Cramer tried to fight back. Stewart DID fight back. That's two rounds to the Daily Show. FYI.... Cramer is scheduled to be on the Daily Show Thursday night... can't wait!

Here's the link via Americablog, still no luck with Comedy Central's embed thingee....

(For the record, I like Cramer. I think he gives better (actually, close to great) advice in his books. The shows are little more problematic, which both Cramer and CNBC admit, and disclaim the hell out of. IMHO, anyone who does anything in the market, based on what anyone on TV said, without further research, analysis, and discussion, deserves whatever they get.)

Quote of the Day

Alan Greenspan has an op-ed in the WSJ, cautioning against excessive exuberance in re-regulating the financial sector. In other words, complete and total crap. John Cole, at Balloon Juice covers the article and concludes with:

Why is this man not in hiding in Argentina or Uraguay? Why is he allowed to speak in public?

And for the record- I want so much regulation of the financial sector that if someone at Goldman Sachs wants to take a piss, he has to get a hall pass from Dennis Kucinich. They don’t like it, they can move to Iceland and see how they feel about bankers.

Ouch!

OMG! Jon Stewart takes on CNBC and slams it out of the park!

The embed link isnt working, so I'll give you the link to Americablog's post with it.

Arlen the Dem?

First recommendation (at least that I've seen) for Arlen Specter to change parties if he wants to save his seat.

Update: I guess recommendation is a little strong. More of a random musing about could happen, not what should.

CUBA LIBRE!

Maybe another F.U. of the embargo will change Castro's mind...... iyee!

Understatement of the Day

From Washington Monthly's Political Animal blog (see blogroll at right):

MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Let's just say it was an unpleasant day on Wall Street.

Let the Comedy Flow

Oh God, if this is true, I'll be the happiest man in America. The jokes are practically writing themselves. And, if he runs, it'll get Larry Kudlow off CNBC, at least for a while!. Please, God, I don't ask for much (just that lottery win....), let me have this one!

LOL

I was out with the bf this afternoon and we were discussing politics (well, I was pontificating and he was trapped behind the steering wheel) and the Michael Steele bash of Rush came up and I noted that he was about due to apologize, since the right can NOT criticize Oxyboy and get away with it. I noted that by the time we got home, we would probably be reading about his abject apology.

Never doubt my political acumen again, oh ye mere mortals!

Rick! Rick! Rick!

There's been a lot of flap lately about Rick Santelli's meltdown/rant on CNBC recently. I thought he just looked like an idiot (which isn't something I'd thought about him before- I have to watch a LOT of CNBC for my work), but now he's starting to look like a criminal mastermind.

Click through to the Playboy link, it's worth a read in its entirety.