Obama Guys & Gals: This stuff is all in your minds.

He's been treated like a cupcake for months and months and months...now he's in the Big Game, and he's gonna get hammered, as is McCain.

But I must admit, I love reading these "they ain't fair" threads.

Posted at July 6, 2008 11:24 PM in response to Reuters Propels Iraq Flip-Flop Lie

This latest "post" of Rosenberg's is merely a link to someone else's article to which he adds "me too." (How he gets this kind of billing on TPM amazes me, but that's another issue.)

I do not advocate the bombing of Iran.

Neither do I advocate "welcoming" Iran or North Korea into the "community of nations."

Does anyone who reads TPM want to re-locate to either of these wonderful nations?

N. Korea is run by a lunatic who subjects his own people to horrors unimaginable by American standards. But Der Fuhrer is mortal. And the hope there is that once this lunatic dies, a space for freedom may open.

Iran is a nation run by fundamentalist Shiite Muslim Ayatollahs. It represses its own population on religious grounds, though is certainly no where near as brutal as regime as N. Korea's. Nevertheless, it is hardly the type of government structure that inspires trust among nations that enjoy freedom, such as the US and Israel.

Any nation ruled by religious fanatics, regardless of the specific religion, is not a nation that the world should be comfortable with possessing nuclear weapons, period.

The USSR was not ruled by religious fanatics, therefore the strategy of Mutual Assured Deterrence actually worked. Brezhnev was not at all interested in becoming a martyr and joining Allah and his infinite supply of virgins.

Iran is ruled by people who are.

There's plenty of time and space for maneuver before any military intervention in Iran is necessary. But legitimizing their lunatic regime should not be something Israel or the US succumbs to.

Posted at July 6, 2008 11:13 PM in response to Ha'aretz Columnist: An Israeli Attack on Iran Would Be Suicidal

OTU,

Here! Here! Well said.

FB

Posted at July 6, 2008 10:46 PM in response to Ha'aretz Columnist: An Israeli Attack on Iran Would Be Suicidal

DB,

Thanks for your reply.

I am in the real estate business in San Diego.

What we are experiencing here with bank-owned foreclosures (REO) is the following.

The banks are putting these properties on the market at 10% below their current appraisals, thereby producing immediate interest from buyers. It is not unusual for these properties to attract multiple offers, some ABOVE the listing price and frequently ALL CASH offers.

Today, I personally showed a sophisticated client
of mine two 4-plex REOs. We both were astonished at the real economic value inherent in these properties at their offering price. These are income properties, so decisions are made by crunching numbers, no emotion, like that found in the purchase of owner-occupied single family residences.

We have no idea when the REOs will cease. But 40-50% of the transactions taking place here are in REO properties, an unheard of statistic.

My client is going to write an offer on one of these 4-plexes tomorrow...Wish me luck. =)

Your posts are the kind of stuff that TPM needs more of: real information about the real world.

Thanks,

FB

Posted at July 6, 2008 9:37 PM in response to CBO Projects Housing Bailout Program Will Send 140,000 Families Into Second Foreclosure

RM,

I'm in no way defending the media---they're great at covering Madonna, Britney, Princess Di (even tho she's dead) and so on.

But you guys have a dead-in-the-water opponent to attack in McCain; why not concentrate on him?

Fredo

Posted at July 6, 2008 9:22 PM in response to Reuters Propels Iraq Flip-Flop Lie

DB,

Please explain to me what will happen if the borrower defaults on the second loan.

Are you saying the USG will continue making payments to the private lender?

Who will own the property after foreclosure?

Does the USG guarantee a certain sale price at or after foreclosure? Is that price equal to the amount of the loan?

If the loan itself is "guaranteed" by the USG, why would the bak foreclose in the first place?

Posted at July 6, 2008 8:47 PM in response to CBO Projects Housing Bailout Program Will Send 140,000 Families Into Second Foreclosure

D-UK,

Sorry for the earlier unnecessary rudeness.

Fred

Posted at July 6, 2008 8:42 PM in response to CBO Projects Housing Bailout Program Will Send 140,000 Families Into Second Foreclosure

And all these years I thought the Republicans had the monopoly on media paranoia all to themselves.

Silly me.

(What a ridiculous waste of your time and effort.)

Posted at July 6, 2008 8:38 PM in response to Reuters Propels Iraq Flip-Flop Lie

CS,

Thanks much for your kind comment.

I am becoming astonished at the direction the TPM bloggers are drifting toward in the election debate. It seems now they have decided to blog against the MSM, a traditional tactic of the Repubs (and HRC) and a moronic waste of time and effort, not to mention the gross subjectivity involved in judging media coverage, Fox News excepted.

For example, I don't know if there were any other posts regarding the shambles the McCain campaign is in, other than my own. And my post was largely ignored by the TPM community, while there must have been 10 posts on Jesse Helms' death!?

Anyway, thanks again for reading my post and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Fred

Posted at July 6, 2008 7:29 PM in response to The Straight-Talk Express Derails; or, The Straight-Talk Express Self-Destructs

K,

I agree with evry word in your reply until the last sentence.

Even on the "personal" nonsense, McCain is proving inept.

FB

Posted at July 6, 2008 7:19 PM in response to The Straight-Talk Express Derails; or, The Straight-Talk Express Self-Destructs