Daniel Drezner has the story of the employee killed in the WalMart sale crush. Reflecting on my previous post, at least that was something the Bolsheviks wouldn't have done; but what should be done?

The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia includes a lot of detail some of which can be seen in reflection in our society and leftist movements. I think about the absence of a personal vs. public life, the classless society which became the blue jean society in America. Also much more that is odd, sad and for which one is glad to view from another world.

With the appointment of Geithner at Treasury and Summers at the Council of Economic Advisers, America can move on, in John Kennedy's phrase, to 'a new generation.' Mike Mayo at DB is saying Citi is worth $9 a share. Is the bete noir of banking keeping the wolf from DB? Naw, he probably believes it.

A Volokh conspirator explains why bankruptcy is an option for the Big Three.

I kind of like the way the auto bail-out review went. 'Come back with a good business plan,' Senator Reid said. Sounds like a consligieri spoke to him perhaps from Barack's comment to someone. Cool. You may not agree with them but they seem like a capable group, the people he has chosen so far. As the WSJ said yesterday, it looks like there is going to be a health care plan. Mankiw was pointing out that his choice for OMB is a smart guy (or is that the current head of OMB or both). Whichever he is, he had an interesting slide presentation on health expenses linked through the OMB site.

Is McCain a masochist? Did he choose Palin from that aspect of his personality? McCain-Feingold, recently brought up by Ann Althouse reminds me of a hypothesis of masochism in his actions.

Did Republicans Vote?

Some said they weren't going to vote for McCain because he was a Republican in name only. Zywicki and commentators look at the question 'Did Republicans Vote?' I think in considering that question on an intuitive basis, one has to consider not only McCain but Obama, his opponent. My hypothesis is that the distance between McCain and his opponent was as great as one might imagine between a 'real' Republican and a standard Democratic opponent. Tom Maguire in the blog Just One Minute has innumerable posts about what we don't know about Obama; others in Pajamas Media gave evidence that Obama was in the pocket of Rezko in term an ally of an Iranian billionaire. This perception and others supported McCain as the Republican alternative. Of course, the pick of Sarah Palin reinforced this. Thus the loss of the election indicates that the present Republican party is not a majority.

GM and another narrative

We've heard the screams about bankruptcy as if this is putting Tiny Tim in debtor's prison. Not so. It is a process the airlines have gone through when their product, air travel, went, with deregulation, from a defined demand with oligopolistic tolls carving that demand, business traveler and those wealthy enough to jump into their pool, into a supplier competitive market. I was riding around Oruro Bolivia twenty yeas ago, I imagine a Stalinist state would have had, similary, the almost empty streets and dingy solid buildings. One of the few cars on the street was an early 50's model Ford or Chevy. Aye; those were the good old days for the Big Three. if you wanted an auto, our toll, baby. No mas. And the genie of other suppliers isn't going back in the bottle.

it didn't fit the narrative

This current auto bailout ideas demonstrates why McCain was the sensible choice. He had to go with who he felt comfortable. I wish it had been Bloomberg. With him McCain could've delegated discussion with the House Republicans and had a coherent response to the financial crisis. Palin didn't fit the America original sin/slavery narrative and was butchered; Bloomberg would've to been a more difficult kill.

Discussing Barack's comments on the passing of his grandmother (comment 191).

Read the AP piece about how the McCain supporters are discouraged. The McCain-Palin campaign sent me an email and offered me the opportunity to call some voters. I called some in Ohio, enjoyed the accent, had a variety of reactions. You have to appreciate the people that are neutral. The main thing though in that in doing something you escape the 'discouraged' feeling.