Pitch Forks and Well Trimmed Bushes

Like most 20 somethings, I spent last Friday evening busily preparing for a big night of excitement. With beer and snacks in abundant supply, I sat down to watch the Presidential debate. I was quickly underwhelmed.

I think it is obvious that both of these men are completely ravaged by the demands of a campaign cycle approaching its third decade. No one can travel thousands of miles, sleep a few hours a night, be constantly guarded in their remarks, and keep abreast of world events for month after gruelling month and be expected to remain anything other than a sound-bite spewing zombie. Such was the train wreck on Friday.

Each man revealed that his well-acknowledged weakness really is. For Sen. McCain it was almost painful watching him flail about on economic matters. His knee-jerk recourse to "ear-mark" spending says more about his fundamental lack of economic understanding than it does about his budget discipline. It seemed clear to me that to John McCain a "hedge" is a well-trimmed bush.

As for Sen. Obama, it is safe to say the man is a quick study. He is now feverishly trying to prevaricate on his more leftish primary comments. His dissembling on "pre-conditions" for talks with ne'r-do-wells versus "preparations" revealed the type of academic hair-splitting that doesn't lend itself to situation room hair-trigger decision making. It suggests a man who views foreign policy like faculty meetings. Everyone hearing everyone out and coming to a learned consensus. It seemed clear to me that to Barack Obama a "Trident" is a three tined fork.

So each man lacks omniscience. Good news then--they're human. The important question is which weakness matters more? For most of the post-war period the verdict of the American people has be crystal clear: foreign affairs trumps economic policy. Republicans have won 7 of the last 10 presidential elections while Democrats have retained control of the Congress during much of this time. Voters, it seems, aren't as stupid as they seem. They recognize that the President's primary job has become the role as Commander-in-Chief. While Congress may masticate over the vagaries of tax policy, subsidies, the welfare state, and regulation, only the president guides foreign policy, negotiates treaties, free-trade agreements-- and let's be frank, wages war.

There is an exception that proves the rule: in 1992 after Messrs Reagan and Bush had ushered out the Soviet Union, won an overwhelming victory in the sands of Arabia and convinced the American people that they were suddenly exempt from history, Bill Clinton convinced everyone that the economy trumped all else.

Unfortunately, while the Clinton administration was busy making it "about the economy" the world was busy moving through history. Repeated signs of growing threats from the Islamic world went unheeded as we built dot.com fortunes overnight--and seduced interns as we went.

Today, we return to the status quo ante where the president's job is to defend the country, encourage our interests, and manage trade. Whatever else we may believe about the presidency, it does not control or direct the economy. He does control and direct our ambassadors and the Armed Forces.

If John McCain lacks on economic matters, he will have advisers and he gets the big picture. He is right on the areas where the president matters: lower taxes--and yes-- lower regulation.

When it comes to Barack Obama, he will have advisers on foreign policy, but he doesn't get the big picture. America can't make friends through weakness, and where the President matters he gets it wrong-- failure to appreciate the Islamic threat, and an over estimation of his own power of persuasion.

Each of these men is flawed. I'll take the flaws that don't matter over the ones that do every time.

Enough of the Greed Garbage

There are few concepts more intentionally misunderstood in American discourse than the broad target of "greed." When politicians fail, and markets falter, and people lose money we can all count on an army of commentators rushing forth to dispense the cause par excellance of all that ails us: greed. Corporate greed, Wall Street greed, five little letters to whip the masses into a frenzy of anger and self-righteousness. Greed unites religious rhetoric with the Marxist variety. It turns a Republican into a populist overnight, and turns a Democrat into a Socialist by lunch.

What a heaping pile of stinking, putrid, vile garbage.

According to the dictionary, "Greed" is "a selfish, excessive desire for more of something than is needed." Fine. This is, after all, a cardinal sin.

What then, does it mean to "desire more of something than is needed?" The Pied Pipers denouncing greed would be well served to open their wee-little minds a crack to ponder that question. I would suggest that "need" for a human being could be defined as the following: 2000 calories per day, 48 oz. of water per day, a dry bed, and enough clothing to maintain an approximate body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. These conditions are what are needed to maintain life. Perhaps the inclusion of a degree of psycho-babble should be allowed: I am willing to include the "need" for 1 other human being for companionship. With these ingredients man could survive, worship his God, and return upon his death to the elements of the planet.

Too harsh? Isn't anything else a selfish, excessive desire for more than one needs? After all, if I desire 2,500 calories, I am robbing 500 calories from another living creature. If I desire water beyond my 48 oz. I am taking water from another. If I secure a living space that keeps not only my bed dry, but my cooking spot as well, I am seeking shelter that another could use. I am being selfish and excessive. I don't "need" any of these luxuries to survive. When food runs short, you can bet my neighbors will demand my extra 500 calories. I am a greedy sonofabitch.

Our world and our great nation have been built by the process of greed. The righteous hunger within each breathing human is to do a bit better than his parents, his neighbor, and his rival. This quest led man to stop wondering and start planting; to stop hunting and start grazing; to give up needle and thread for loom; ox for steam engine; slave for gin; and sweat for thought.

Greed is the quest for the writer to be read, for the poet to be understood, for the artist to be appreciated, the song-writer to be heard, and the athlete to be rewarded. It the quest for the father to give his children their own room, for the mother to prepare more than her family can eat, and for the businessman to sell more than he did last year. It is the quest to stretch the bounds of human accomplishment; to shoot for the moon because we think we can. To make music portable, bathrooms sanitary and indoors, transportation faster and safer. It is the quest to live in climates that are too cold and too hot and too dry. It is the quest to read, watch, and enrich ourselves through song and thought. It is the quest to build temples to our gods, shrines to our heroes, and amusement for our children.

Greed is a trillion steps trod by an army of generations and civilizations in the battle to express the human spirit--which is the Holy Spirit-- on a battlefield of trial and desperation. It is the tears and laughter of Ages. The dreams of those who came before and the promise of those who follow.

The desire for more of something than is needed is the mission of our race, the purpose of our breath, and the reason of our being.

The real sin of excessive want comes in the form of those who have not earned and do not deserve the fruits of others' labor. The leeches who stand ready to suck dry the accomplishments of the intrepid souls who brave the new frontier. The yawning mouths of baby birds who wish to feed on the surplus of others while uselessly taking up space. The victims who count on the blood of heroes to secure their sad and hollow existence.

Let not he who has never created attack the creator. Let not he who has never risked attack the gambler. Let not he who has never added a new thought, an innovation, or an efficiency criticize those who reach beyond, imagine the best, and strive for the better.

To those impotent, cynical, parasitic drones who lash out at the game changers and the front line capitalists who rise and fall on their initiative, creativity, and luck; who bring us iPods, and the Internet, and hybrid cars; who save our lives with mind-boggling chemistry; who keep us in touch with cell phones I say: all you really need is to eat, sleep, and die.

Finger. Dam. Finger. Damn. Hello!.... Hell...o...Hell hole.

I am very nearly too exasperated to bother commenting on the financial crisis (and by now it is a crisis) facing Wall Street. There seems to be near unanimity from Obama to O'Reilly and from Cramer to McCain: greed and a lack of government regulation is to blame for the current crisis. Everyone is tripping over themselves to denounce the greed of Wall Street bankers and the failure of the federal government. Like a good lawyer joke, you can never lose the audience with this type of tale. Unfortunately it is all balderdash. Financial problems are not the result of a lack of regulation, but a product of regulation and the social engineering which represents real greed.

Our current woes stem from the drunken indulgence in home mortgages that occured over the last decade. Lenders gave ever greater quantities of money to ever riskier borrowers to buy ever larger homes. The question is, why? Why would companies whose job was to value risk suddenly lose all perspective and grant $200k home loans to a household earning $30k/year? Why would banks offer up loans for 100% of a home's value, or with no proof of income. Was it that they were predators? Was it their greed? No. It was the typical unintended consequences of government's good intentions.

Beginning in the mid-'90s the Clinton administration sought to dramatically expand the level of minority home ownership. Through regulation and incentives it encouraged quasi-governmental agencies--like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-- and actual government agencies like the FHA to make lending easier for people on the margins of home ownership. In the name of good social policy and justice, the federal government actively encouraged lending to people without the ability to repay. Once Fannie and Freddie began buying mortgage securities with the full faith and credit of the taxpayer behind them, they could out-compete private lenders. With low equity requirements and almost free borrowing capacity as government guaranteed entities, Fannie and Freddie created an enormous upset in home mortgage lending.

Perhaps we should digress. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created as so-called "government sponsored enterprises" or "GSE's." Technically the companies were private and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. However, the implicit guarantee that the federal government stood behind them, gave them a huge advantage in debt markets. The riskier a company is, the more it has to pay to borrow money. With the feds as a backstop, Fannie and Freddie could borrow money more cheaply than any of their private sector rivals, that is, banks.

With Fannie and Freddie borrowing ridiculously cheap money to buy ever more mortgages, private banks were put in an uncompetitive situation. In order to make loans at all, they needed to find ever more creative and lenient ways of writing mortgages. This created a vicious circle. Banks outcompeted each other while Fannie and Freddie Hoovered up the mortgage backed securities that resulted. As mortgages became cheap people bought ever more expensive houses, which pushed home prices up.

Eventually too many people found themselves in houses they couldn't afford. Prices collapsed, the banks lost money. All the mortgages Fannie and Freddie sucked up went bad and the tax payer got the check. All this because Bill Clinton and others wanted to give the poor a shot at the American dream. If only government could make houses easier to buy.

However, what they were really doing was creating a short-cut to the American Dream. An express lane paved with Treasury gold. Rather than work hard, save, obtain and education, give your children the best you can and hope they can achieve more than you dreamed--this was the patht to the American Dream--government would tell those mean (might we say greedy?) bankers to loosen the purse strings and dole out loans.

And they were mighty successful. President Bush was able to crow early in his presidency that minority home ownership was at record levels. Millions of Americans took lavish vacations, upgraded vehicles, and added an RV on the sudden equity they found in their homes. The good times were rolling along. Unfortunately, like all artificial meddling in the market, we created unavoidable consequences, and it turns out, we were simply surfing on the crest of the Tsunami that would destroy us.

Mark My WORieDS

October 1, 2oo8 and Barack Obama continues to trail McCain-Palin. The Democrats are in a panic. The news media are apoplectic. How could the Messiah not be running away with this? A pasty white senior citizen with a penchant for war is losing to the Dear One?

Bee-dee-beep, beeedeeedeeee beedeee: Here is the breaking news with all the news that is news across the nation:

I Joe Biden, with severe regret and deepest sadness come to you today to announce a personal tragedy. With severe ingrown hair plugs plaguing me, I must focus on my health, and will unfortunately be unable to serve as your vice-president. No, no. Please, please... you are too kind. I want nothing more than to fight for you as I've always fought for you. I want nothing more than to go to Washington---errr return to Washington---to begin--err resume-- my efforts to remake government. I thank you all for your kind wishes. God bless you. God bless America.

October 2, 2008 and Democrats are reeling. With the sudden, unexpected, and tragic loss of Joe Biden, the Democrat ticket is in a panic. The news media are apoplectic.

Bee-dee-beep, beeedeeedeeee beedeee: Here is the breaking news with all the news that is news across the nation:

I Hillary Clinton, with great humility and deepest respect come to you today to announce that upon great reflection, and in service to the nation, I have agreed to replace the ailing Joe Biden and fortunately serve as your vice-president. No, no... please, please... you are too kind. I want nothing more than to fight for you as I have always fought for you. I will go to Washington---errr return to Washington-- and do my best to be an imperfect replacement for the great Joe Biden. God bless you. God bless America.

9/11

It was shocking
It was unprecedented
It was horrible.

We came together
We came to wonder
We came through.

I hope we remember
I hope we reflect
I hope we endure

It still rattles
It still saddens
It still matters.

Life is like a box of....

So if you are going to be wrong it helps to be proven wrong by degree. Thinking Sen. Lieberman was John McCain's most radical choice, I endorsed it. My idea of shaking things up, reclaiming the mantel of change, and appearing "grown-up" was only one-uped by Mr. McCain in the end. Gov. Palin was a humbling experience for me: I follow politics closely, delve into details, and have been doing so for a long time. Mrs. Palin caught me just as off-guard as the next guy.

While the media initially thought the choice was a desparate attempt to woo Hillraisers, the truth was revealed in the past week. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Facing the first executive decision of a lifetime Sen. Obama flinched. John McCain showed why he is a major party nominee at 72 and despite quibbles with the establishment. The man understands what America needs. Good on him. Good for us.