Who looks more Presidential?

I had noticed this moment during the broadcast, but had not quite realized how very nuts McCain looked.  (As George who sent me this put it, still photography can be so cruel.)

Also, now that I have a post on the debate going, can I just say that if you’re a Presidential candidate trying to nail down the soccer/hockey/whatever mom vote, “women’s health” is probably not the best phrase to put in sarcastic SCARE QUOTES.  Really could not believe he did that — one of those mask-slipping moments.

Whether McCain Deserves Blame for the Meltdown

Matt Taibbi and Byron York Butt Heads Over Whether McCain Deserves Blame for the Wall Street Meltdown

This is hilarious and great:

M.T.: I’m saying that you’re talking about individual homeowners defaulting. But these massive companies aren’t going under because of individual homeowner defaults. They’re going under because of the myriad derivatives trades that go on in connection with each piece of debt, whether it be a homeowner loan or a corporate bond. I’m still waiting to hear what your idea is of how these trades work. I’m guessing you’ve never even heard of them.

I mean really. You honestly think a company like AIG tanks because a bunch of minorities couldn’t pay off their mortgages? …Tick tick tick. Hilarious sitting here while you frantically search the Internet to learn about the cause of the financial crisis — in the middle of a live chat interview.

B.Y.: Look, you can keep trying to make this a specifically partisan and specifically Gramm-McCain thing, but it simply isn’t. We’ve gone on for fifteen minutes longer than scheduled, and that’s enough. Thanks.

M.T.: Thanks. Note, folks, that the esteemed representative of the New Republic has no idea what the hell a credit default swap is. But he sure knows what a minority homeowner looks like.

B.Y.: It’s National Review.

I now ♥ Matt Taibbi, who I think went to high school with Sarah — gotta read his book The Great Derangement.

The Little Kitten, Baby Mouse, & Baby Snake

Iris came home with another doozy of a story.

Once upon a time there was a little kitten.  And he found a baby mouse.  And the mouse said, “I live in a farm.  And they make fun of me because they think my body is very small and I’m so small that I can climb up on them.  But I heard them whispering that they’re making a plan.  To make a fire because they think that if they made a fire they would think that I would think that it would be interesting to look up at closer.  And then they think that I would fall into the fire and die.  But I won’t go near it because then I would die but I don’t want to die.  That’s the whole thing I went out the farm.”  And the kitten said, “Then I can help you because I am very strong and scary.  Because I can arch my back and then they might run away.  And if that doesn’t work I could put my claws out and they would probably run away.”  And then the kitten said, “I have an even better idea.  I will put my claws out and arch my back at the same time.”  The end.

Celie’s is much more cheerful and less complicated this time:

One day a little snake went on a trip.  And he found another baby snake.  And the other little baby snake said, “I’m lost and I can’t find my house.  Can you help me?”  “Yes, I can.”  So he took she to her home and they had dinner and breakfast together.  And then they went on a little bike ride.  And then they went to the palace.  And then they went on a trip to the moon.  And then they went to the pet store to get a little puppy.  And then the first little snake said, “I’m bored.  I want to go to my friend bear’s house.  Come on!”  And they went there and bear was there and they had lots of candy.  The end.

The common denominator here is, I guess, the twin theme of companionship and friendship.  For Celie it’s pure fun: sleep-overs, candy, and the care-taking of pets; for Iris it’s banding together in the face of peer bullying, mockery & violence.  But baby animals can protect themselves and their friends by acting bigger than they really are.  If you put your claws out and arch your back, people might think you’re strong and scary even if you’re just a little kitten.  (This is definitely true of Pot Luck.)