AlchemyToday

So there’s some to-do about Obama trying to get ads off the air by the NRA because of distortions of his record or some other legal issue, but I hadn’t seen anyone complain about the imagery involved in these ads.  I just saw an ad, Veteran, that includes images of the plane hitting the second World Trade Center tower as well as a soldier standing over fellow soldiers’ graves, who I presume don’t neccesarily approve of this message.  Here are the two images with the voiceover accompanying them in the ad:

On the front lines, I knew I served a real purpose: defeating terrorism

The freedoms that I fought for--that my friends died to defend

"The review for 'Shark Sandwich' was merely a two word review which simply read 'Shit Sandwich'."

Memo to John McCain, Reps. Boehner, Blunt, Cantor et al: today was not Nancy Pelosi’s responsibility.  She delivered the votes she promised and gave you the compromise needed to get your guys on board at the expense of enough Black and Hispanic Caucus votes to have won a more party-line vote to placate your endless paranoid bitching about provisions inconsequential to the broader economy.  Rather, your half-hearted support of the bill and utter inability to whip your caucus was on display with this brilliant display of support:

McCain: I’d like to see the details but hopefully yes and from the outlines that I have read of it, that this is something that all of us will swallow hard and go forward with.

Boehner: In a closed-door session with House Republicans Sunday evening, Minority Leader John A. Boehner called the $700 billion financial rescue deal a “crap sandwich” — then said he plans to vote for it.

Cantor: It seems that when the Democrats decided to bring the vote to the floor, they just didn’t have their votes together. Hopefully we’ll be able to reboot, and bring a plan back that meets the needs of the American people, and that will hopefully help us avoid falling into further economic decline… I think what you saw today was the will of the American people having a real impact, as it should, on the legislative body.

If this is the level of enthusiasm from the folks who were supposed to convince wary Republicans that they’d have their back a month from now if they took a bit of risk, it’s not hard to see who’s largely to blame.

Depression-era soup line

The S&P 500 retreated 106.59 points to 1,106.42, as only one company gained, Campbell Soup Co. The benchmark index for American equities slipped to a four-year low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 777.68, its steepest point drop ever. The MSCI World Index lost as much as 86.99 to 1,163.38, giving it the steepest intraday percentage drop since its creation in 1970.

Bloomberg via Wonkette via Sullivan.

Twitter’d Sunday morning:

Prediction: The bailout bill will go to the floor with the idea that it’s got substantial House GOP support, but they’ll vote against it.

There’s no reason for the House GOP to vote for the bill (none of the credit and all of the blame from challengers) and every reason to oppose (run reelection campaigns against the bailout and government waste and away from your record).  On top of that, although Blunt and Cantor (the GOP whip and deputy whip) eventually voted for the bill (reportedly, House.gov is currently out of service as millions of international financial officers scramble to figure out who the hell is in charge over here, anyway, and make some calls), they spent all day yesterday and this morning bemoaning it, and boy is this ever a compelling call for help from your caucus by Minority Leader Boehner:

In a closed-door session with House Republicans Sunday evening, Minority Leader John A. Boehner called the $700 billion financial rescue deal a “crap sandwich” — then said he plans to vote for it.

From The Page:

On “Fox and Friends,” McCain aide Pfotenhauer said McCain “very quietly behind the scenes” worked toward the financial package, then went straight to Friday’s debate. ” “No debate camp for him in Florida, he didn’t need it.” Said Couric offered Palin “a series of trap-door questions” and called Couric “one tough reporter.”

From Johnanthan Martin:

John McCain did a few hours of high-level debate prep in his Arlington, Va., condo last night with podiums and mock questions, a top aide said today.

After taping interviews for the evening newscasts, McCain returned home and practiced for his first faceoff with Barack Obama, a session that included aides tossing out potential questions and coaching his performance, Mark Salter said to the campaign pool reporter en route from Washington to Memphis. Apparently, the practice took place between phone calls, as McCain aides said last night he had been working the phones with congressional leaders and administration officials.

This was, by the way, after McCain “rushed” back to DC to first meet with John Boehner, then went to the White House meeting where he refused to say anything, then went home at 6:30PM after taping some interviews.  Urgency!