I don’t care whether that incumbent is DNC, RNC or Indie.  If they’re an incumbent, vote the other guy in on your ballot.  Whether or not I disagree with the bill that failed yesterday (I wasn’t too hot about it), the fact that it failed shows a serious problem on Capitol Hill.  1) It should not have been brought to a vote in the first place — this is a failure of leadership; and 2) Once brought to a vote, it damn well better pass across party lines.  Congress would like to think they acted for their constituents — and maybe they did — but they only did so this time because they’re up for re-election in a few weeks.

When the New Deal brought to the floor a set of acts Congress passed them with a rubber stamp because something had to be done.  Fortunately, the newly elected president was FDR (there is something to be said for having effective CICs) and fortunately, a lot of it was useful; like the creation of the FDIC, which has kept our banking system afloat even though it was gutted by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 that arguably led to the sub-prime mortgage crisis (yes, Gramm as in Phil Gramm, McCain’s economic advisor).  The people wanted to see something, and the spin on a “bailout” was just bad politicking.  Call it the 21st Century Deal or some other spin that makes it sound palatable.  And when you vote for it, pass it.

The abject failure of Congress and the White House simply leads me to believe that the campaign for change really ought to be systemic.  We can’t just change the Executive Branch (you can tell I’m voting for the new guy for president, right?), we’re going to have to gut the Legislative Branch as well.  So RNC, DNC or whatever — vote for the non-incumbent.  Change as much of Congress as possible. 

I’m lucky.  I despise my representative, Jane Harman, and have been trying to get her booted since I moved into the neighborhood. 

It’s the 21st Century. Oust the baby-boomers.

Dollars.

A good read from the New York Times.  I’m pretty bad at keeping track of this stuff and I’m better off just letting my investments, however few they may be, ride it out.  I’m still young and I can do that.  Still and all, this was a good read for me to get an inkling as to the last few weeks.  My favorite bit?

“We have not seen this much stress in the financial system since the Great Depression[.]“

Crazy, huh?  All we’re really missing is that 25% unemployment rate.  We probably won’t get there… being poor these days doesn’t really hold a candle to what poor meant in 1929.  The government is attempting to do something and much of it stems from lessons learned from the Great Depression.  So our nets will hold… more or less.  This certainly will be a trial by fire.

Sense.  Or lack thereof.

You know what’s nuts?  The Bush Administration is forced to regulate the market, contrary to a lot of podium talk in the past, and in consequence gets criticized by Republicans.  That’s just bizarro world right there.  You know what’s nuttier?  That in the same news story McCain is quoted:

“We’re going to reform how Wall Street does business and put an end to the greed that has driven our markets into chaos. [...] We’ll put an end to multimillion-dollar payouts to CEOs who have broken the public trust. We’ll put an end to running Wall Street like a casino. We’ll make businesses work for the benefit of their shareholders and employees, and we’ll make sure your savings — IRA, 401(k) and pension accounts — are protected.”

Because, you know, the RNC of our generation is all about fighting big business (obvious note: it’s not; back when Teddy was prez, it sure was — antitrust and national parks — that was the RNC of 1908; today it’s about chumming up with big oil and drilling in the Arctic).

And then things get so out there when Palin contradicts herself in the same speech:

“Guys and gals, our regulatory system is outdated and needs a complete overhaul… We are going to reform the way Wall Street does business [...] government has got to get out of the way [...] it’s not government to be looked at to solve all the problems.”

Change you can believe and not believe in.  At the same time.  This would blow my mind if it weren’t already blown after eight years of whoppers like that.

I missed the launch of Microsoft’s $300 million ad campaign whose first two ads featured Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld and instead had to do a YouTube search to find them.

Frankly, I found them cute and humanizing.  Far better than the Mac vs. PC ads Apple has run, which from the very beginning I found smug and insulting.  Both campaigns aren’t geared towards me or any of, what do we like calling ourselves now? the technorati?  We are immune to either campaign and view them only for entertainment value.  On that point alone, I like these more.  John Hodgeman was amusing at first for the self-deprecating humor, but it quickly grew shrill and tired.  Justin Long’s portrayal of a Mac had me hating him from the get go… and I like Macs.

Anyhow, I suppose I’ll catch the follow-ups on YouTube as they come along.  Apparently they’re taking a break from Bill and Jerry and directly addressing the PC vs. Mac ad campaign Apple has waged.  That should be fun.  I enjoy it when ad campaigns reference one another.  It makes for a healthy relationship… yeah, whatever, it makes commercials fun to watch — sometimes more entertaining than the damn show it’s sponsoring.

Yeah, okay, pretty funny but it kinda meandered along and never really hit what I would call a good pace.  Then it all sort of snowballed like all get out and ended with just two people wrapping it up via conversation.  Amusing, yes.  But yeah, not really what I would call good.  Maybe worth a matinee if you dig the Coen brothers, otherwise a rental, or not… this one you don’t need to see.

After months of checking stock online and popping into a GameStop or Best Buy whenever I happened to see one, I walk into the Best Buy on Venice and Overland, just two days after checking and finding none in stock, I stroll in, not even thinking about it, and there they were.  Seven.  Seven Wii Fits.

As of noon today, six.  Six Wii Fits.  The seventh is in my house as Sun does yoga.