Via Instapundit...

WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT FAN AND FRED: The Wall Street Journal rounds up some pre-meltdown quotes on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the likes of Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, and Charles Schumer. My favorite: "Rep. Frank: I do think I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] and OTS [Office of Thrift Supervision]. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing."

Well, roll the dice we did . . . .

More of the same... read it all!

Katie Couric invites viewers to admire the impressive constitutional expertise of Joe Biden

"Absolute deafening silence from Katie Couric. She gave him a free pass. The viewer is invited to sit back and admire Joe Biden as an impressive authority on constitutional law... not like that ignoramus Sarah Palin. Very few viewers will perceive what has been done here."

Oy...

U.S. Textbooks: ‘Jesus was Palestinian’

"‘'Christianity was started by a young Palestinian named Jesus.' This is one of hundreds of distortions, misrepresentations and outright lies found about Judaism and Jewish history by a comprehensive study of the 28 most widely used Social Studies textbooks in the United States. In a landmark book called “The Trouble with Textbooks,” Dr. Gary A. Tobin and Dennis R. Ybarra show how millions of American schoolchildren are taught anti-Semitic versions of Jewish history and faith, particularly in relation to Christianity and Islam, in passages that often amount to sheer libel."

Thanks, Jonah...

Accountability

"It is a funny — though not ha-ha funny — double standard: When the GOP ran the show, it was always held responsible for every “bad” outcome. Now that the GOP is in the minority, it’s still held responsible for every “bad” outcome. I suppose it’s a similar standard that somehow allows the Democrats in charge of overseeing the financial sector to whine that there hasn’t been enough oversight without even the slightest sting of embarrassment.

On that point, you know what I haven’t seen in all of the coverage of the bailout-blow-up? I haven’t seen a single interview with a Democrat who voted against this deal. I’ve seen interviews of Republicans who’ve voted for it. I’ve seen interviews of Republicans who voted against it. And, of course, I’ve seen interviews with the Democratic leadership in which they blamed the Republicans who voted against it but not the 94 Dems who voted against it."

Hmmm... Damned if I know...

If Not Passing The Paulson Plan Is What People Wanted, Why Are Congressional Approval Ratings Dropping?

Gee! What a surprise....

A debate “moderator” in the tank for Obama

"My first syndicated column of the week, filed this afternoon, shines light on PBS anchor Gwen Ifill, who will moderate Thursday’s only vice presidential debate. Try as she might to deflect questions about her impartiality, her biases — and her conflict of interest — are clear. But don’t you dare breathe a word about any of this. You know what will happen if you do…

RACIST!"

Patterico has more...

Can't say they don't deserve it....

Big Three Nets' Evening News Programs Still in Collective Decline

Megan...

The politics of the bill:

"That doesn't excuse the Republicans; I've already expressed my opinion of their conduct. If they do not understand that there are some things more important than reelection, they do not deserve to be in Congress. I'm not sure they deserve to be let loose in society. But Pelosi is the one who was vested with the ultimate responsibility for shaping the legislative process in the House. She not only dropped the ball; she picked it up and drop kicked it through her own goal."

A definite "No kidding" here for Uncle Barney...

Frank's fingerprints are all over the financial fiasco

But his fingerprints are all over this fiasco. Time and time again, Frank insisted that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were in good shape. Five years ago, for example, when the Bush administration proposed much tighter regulation of the two companies, Frank was adamant that "these two entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not facing any kind of financial crisis." When the White House warned of "systemic risk for our financial system" unless the mortgage giants were curbed, Frank complained that the administration was more concerned about financial safety than about housing.

How can I believe you if it's not George Bush?

Who caused “the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression?

Not 100% accurate, perhaps–it’s really a credit crisis–but close enough for government work, especially from someone who has just happens to chair the Senate Banking Committee and who, completely coincidentally, has been such a conspicuous beneficiary of preferential mortgages and who, also coincidentally, leads the list of those who have received campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Guess who comes in 2nd and 3rd?)

Remember the separation of church and state?

Ecuador Constitution Grants Rights to Nature

Glad they figured that one out....

Wired News:

"Mathematicians at UCLA have discovered a 13 million-digit prime number, a long-sought milestone that makes them eligible for a $100,000 prize."

About as pathetic a game as ever....

Familiar bullpen issues haunt Mets

Read it....

But at Least No One Does Meth Anymore:

"Honestly. They think we’re a nation of damned children."

Read it....

But at Least No One Does Meth Anymore:

"Honestly. They think we’re a nation of damned children."

The Constitution is such an inconvenience....

Obama Campaign Throws First Amendment Under the Bus:

"“What Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous beyond words, the party that claims to be the party of Thomas Jefferson is abusing the justice system and offices of public trust to silence political criticism with threats of prosecution and criminal punishment."

Let me know if this doesn't bother you...

London Muslims Celebrate 9/11

It goes very nicely with this:

Ahmadinejad Gets Applause, Hugs at the UN General Assembly

Me, too...

Jerry Pournelle:

"But I suspect that things will be gimmicked so that in order to keep the house you should never been able to buy, you will have to continue to support the Democrats. But then I have a nasty suspicions mind."

We need limits...

Is Big Brother Riding Shotgun?:

"I have done things with cars that make me burst into sweat just recalling them. And if you are a red-blooded American male — or, from what I’ve seen lately, an American teenaged girl — your driving history is probably very similar to mine. And you can understand why a sports car enthusiast and lawyer like Scott Weires might object to having a driving behavior monitor strapped beneath his seat.

Shouldn’t that be some kind of clue? When the Germans — who, after the Gestapo and the Stasi, know a little something about surveillance and the loss of privacy — ban these devices, why should we let them into our daily lives?

Oops!!! Who's the big liar here?

Paired with this, you just want to scream...