Watermark

Imagine

The pundits tell me that the Wall Street Bailout went down because of a public angry enough to pressure their representatives, in a ratio of about ten to one, to vote against it. FiveThiryEight.com says:

Among 38 incumbent congressmen in races rated as "toss-up" or "lean" by Swing State Project, just 8 voted for the bailout as opposed to 30 against: a batting average of .211.

By comparison, the vote among congressmen who don't have as much to worry about was essentially even: 197 for, 198 against.

The public sees this as a bailout for the greedy, corrupt, and wealthy folks who played the market game to their own advantage, leaving the rest of us holding the (empty) bag. And we, the public, are correct, but our understanding is incomplete.

The plan, they say, was not well-marketed. It should have been called something else. [Financial Usury Containment Kombat Unit?] Secretary Paulson, while a savvy financial fellow, just isn't up to public relations, and for some reason we no longer tend to believe our President.

But somehow we must be brought to understand that this plan is necessary for our own financial good. We need a good remedial course in basic economics.

Now, I have a few thoughts about this, as a non-economist (as you know, I think of it all as confetti.)

I have a new post up at Open Salon

Journalism, Then and Now

My brain needs longer arms ...

... as I try to wrap my mind around this, in some concrete way I can understand.

  

Confetti
Originally uploaded by ADoseofShipBoy

We have a House (a real house), and a House Owner, and a House Buyer. The House Owner and the House Buyer work to find a Real Estate Agent to make a match. The House Buyers think they can afford a little house, but the Realtor finds them a big one s/he says they can afford, and matches them up with a Mortgage Broker. The Broker works up some numbers, and the House Buyers are concerned; the payment promises to increase over the next few years.

Not to worry, says the Broker, says the Realtor -- the value of your house will just go up and up and you can refinance later at a lower rate.

Politics

I'm obsessed with politics, as addicted as I am to nicotine (yes, still...)

I don't want Watermark to suffer from this disease, so if I feel compelled to write about politics, I will, mostly, put such posts on Open Salon, and just note them here. I do want to at least refer to our current political world here, though, so I've put some links on the sidebar to help all of us sort out what is true, and what is not.

Cynthia Barnes shared this with me, and gave me permission to post it here. She says it well:

"I've been watching both the conventions, and trying to avoid the pundits on both sides. I came across this website today and thought I'd share the link. FactCheck.org is provided by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and it is both non-partisan and extremely well-researched. The front page right now will show more about McCain, because that's the most current convention, but scrolling down to earlier posts will reveal them taking the Democrats to task for errors, inaccuracies, stretching the truth and just plain lies.

From their mission statement:

We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews,and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

What I really like is that they link to the actual primary source documents. A lot of politics is opinion and subjective, but there ARE still facts that can be verified. It's up to us to demand that our leaders and our candidates stick to the truth. There's very little we can do about hypocrisy and hate-mongering from pundits except to refuse to buy into it. But when it comes from elected officials or those who seek to be elected, we can (and should) call them on their bullshit.
  

Person Cynthia Barnes

Right click for SmartMenu shortcuts

I have added links to PolitiFact, Snopes, and Center for Responsive Politics, other nonpartisan fact-checking organizations, and may add more as I come across them. They will sit at the top of the sidebar until after the election.

Please use them.

Harvest Moon

I wake to a bright night, moon resting
on the swell of the mountain.

Geese pass noisily overhead, barking
like a herd of schnauzers.

A storm spins past Galveston
another spins out of Washington

and yet another from Wall Street,
each leaving loss and debris

in its wake. I listen to love songs
on the radio and try to remember how

that felt. It's time for the long nightgown,
the flannel sheets. Time to close

the windows against autumn. The stars
of my generation are dying off.

Somewhere, someone is bringing in
the crops. Long ago, I helped with that,

prepared meals for the field hands,
bacon sizzling, the women talking,

shelling peas, canning peaches. Now,
I lift my food from the shelves. It has

nothing to do with me.

   

   

UPDATE 16 September 02008: This poem has been selected for inclusion on Poet's Corner at fieralingue. Thanks, Anny!

Elsewhere

I actually blogged today, but it's about politics, so I put it on Open Salon: Unpopular Opinions.

If you like to think of me as a mellow, spiritual poet, don't go there.