2008, the new 1929?

And you laughed at your grandfather for keeping his money in a mattress instead of a bank. But Gramps had lived through the Great Depression--and it's worth remembering that the Republican Big Money boys were all asleep at the wheel when that got started in 1929.

Bush just may go down in history as the new Hoover.

Are we headed back to the future now? It's not time to panic yet--I think. I never took a course in economics, wish I had; but I do know there are more safeguards and backups built into the financial system now than in the Depression era. Still, watching the news I sure get the feeling that behind the forced smiles and the confident spin, all the top economists and financial experts are holding their breath and sweating bullets right now.

I bet even the Log Cabin boys are peeing in their boots. Which is only fitting--they're queer for that trickle-down theory.

The good news is the presidential race is now going to be focused on reality instead of fantasy. You can fuck with people's heads, but don't mess with their money.

Just like a sleazy carnival barker, McCain used sex to draw a great big crowd to his tent--it never fails, trot out a pretty girl all the men desire and the women admire.

But now, after her dance of the seven veils routine, giving us a little flash of this and a little peek at that, she's going back behind the curtain (don't even go there, Charlie, it's probably just "God's plan"), and the real show is about to start. Should be quite a prizefight.

Who will deliver the knockout, the old champ or the young contender? Dan Balz blogs the opening round in the Washington Post, emphasis mine:

McCain immediately seized on the news to deliver a pair of messages during appearances in Florida. First is that the economy is in a crisis and that he and Palin are ready to shake up the way Washington regulates Wall Street -- and also shake up Wall Street itself.

"We are going to reform the way Wall Street does business and put an end to the greed that has driven our markets into chaos," he said in Orlando. "We will stop multimillion-dollar payouts to CEOs who have broken the public trust. We will put an end to running Wall Street like a casino. We will make businesses work for the benefit of their shareholders and employees."

Obama addressed the issue later in Colorado, calling it "the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression" and accusing Washington and Wall Street of failures.

"I certainly don't fault Senator McCain for these problems," he said in prepared remarks. "But I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It's the same philosophy we've had for the last eight years -- one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else."