As I understand it, the entire financial "crisis" we have been going through is as a result of the large number of mortgages that borrowers can no longer afford to pay.  These failed loans are a result of slickly marketed ballooning mortgage schemes that generated enormous profits for years, but eventually became so widespread that now that interest rates have increased, the people who took out the mortgages at ow interest rates cannot make the new, higher payments.

At some point in time, perhaps it is even now not too late, the government could have devised any number of ways to make sure that most (if not all) the borrowers who had gotten themselves into mortgage trouble were given fixed rate loans they could afford.  This sort of "bailout" for the little people was found to be too expensive and besides, the all knowing "we" of Washington did not want to appear to be bailng out irresponsible borrowers.  Nonetheless, had we chosen to pursue a policy that would have allowed people to get new mortgages they could afford on the homes they were in and could at one time afford, we could have averted all or nearly all of this "crisis".

But instead of helping out the average mortgage holder who was in over his/her head we decided to play chicken and see just how many of the rubes would or could pay the higher rates.  This would alow the huge profits to continue if John and Jane Doe could figure out how to pay twice or more for the mortgage.  This happy solution did not materialize.  Instead, millions of Doe families lost their homes, walked away from their mortgages and left the poor, defenseless banks and speculators high and dry.

Now, with all their irresponsible chickens coming home to roost, instead of talking about how to lock up the crooks who were the architects  of this disaster, we are discussing only how many trillions the taxpayer is going to have to dole out to save these creeps from the consequences of their horrendous and fraudulent business practices.  We are told this is absolutely essential and we need to act instantly in order to maintain investor "confidence" which means essentially in order to keep the rich people happy.

If I'm not mistaken the taxpayer also happens to be the beleagured homeowners who still are paying their now increasingly expensive mortgages as well as the poor saps who have already lost their homes.  Seems to me this is a clear cut case of getting fucked six ways to Sunday and not one Democrat anywhere is standing up to object.  No Democrats in Congress are suggestng that instead of doling out trillions to the wealthy we should be helping staunch the bleeding by rescusing the people who we need to make mortgage payments every month.

Wouldn't it have been much cheaper for the little guys paying all the taxes to have bailed out the homeowners who needed help on the front end to avert the crisis we now see on the back end of the financial system?  The whole thing is an outrage and a boondoggle for the speculators and other irresponsible, bad businesspeople who created this mess.  Why isn't anyone standing up for the regular people on this issue and why isn't anyone insisting that if we taxpayers must bail out all these crooks, that we get a permanent piece of the profits that will be made possible as a result of the generosity of the taxpayers?

It is appalling to me to see the limp-wristed manner in which the Obama campaign is allowing the election to be taken from them even as they amass extraordinary amounts of money that OUGHT to be used to destroy not only McCain/Palin but to obliterate the Republican Party across the board.

The attacks against Obama that McCain has carried out for months now have, to a large degree, had their desired effect.  The polls are tied.  McCain appears to have whatever momentum there is in this election.  Obama looks promising but remains dead in the water despite having a strong wind at his back because he refuses (for reasons unknown) to hoist his sails. 

It is utterly appalling that McCain is even in the running at this point!  But no one can lay that at the feet of the American voter.  Nope.  It's not the voters' job to make sure Obama gets elected.  It's his job to make sure he's done what he needs to do to earn their votes.  The only reason McCain is still in the race at all is  the astonishingly wimpy Obama campaign.

Please remember please that it isthe common people who will decide this election.  It is the common people who need to be convinced.  That's who the McCain campaign has been marketing their nearly unchallenged lies to.  That's who Obama needs to bring to his side, but he keeps wanting to give them a nice, intellectual lecture or sermon about policy and not only is that not what they're looking for, it's not what they need to hear.  Here's the bottom line...

You can discuss all the finer points of this, that and the other thing but in the end, the American people simply will not vote for someone they see as a wimp or a pussy.  They want TR charging up San Juan hill.  In otherwords, they want a strong leader.  They don't want a scold, or a school marm or a professor.  The reason Kerry lost was because he was viewed (contrary to all reality) as a pussy.  Do we even need to discuss Dukakis? 

What the American people demand of their President is that he be a strong leader.  They demand their President be someone with the balls to take charge, take command and be a man when it comes to the difficult business of leading America.  More than anything else though, the American people want someone who will stand up for himself. 

They will not vote for someone who won't defend himself when insulted and attacked.  Responding to the scurrilous lies of the McCain campaign in the manner a professor might respond to a rude student is absolutely the wrong way to respond as far as Americans are concerned.  Why DC Democrats don't get this is beyond me (and millions of others who are pulling their hair out as they see another election slipping away).

Here's what Obama, Axelrod and all the rest need to understand and act upon immediately and they shouldn't need a focus group or a survey to figure this out.  Here's how Americans think about who they're going to vote for, for President:

If he won't defend himself when attacked, and when he won't defend his party when attacked how can I trust that he will defend me?  How can I trust the guy who won't defend himself with defending America?  How can I trust him to defend my family?  Damn good questions actually!  Sure you can construct an answer for this, but by the time it comes out of your mouth you've lost the election so what good does it do ya?

The point is Americans like someone who will fight for what he believes in.  It makes no sense to our people when someone spits in your face why you wouldn't knock his head off if you could.  Therefore, if Obama wants to win this election (which isn't about him remember--it's about us) then he has to abandon the pussy strategy he's had thus far, stand up like a man and fight these sons of bitches. 

That is the only way he will be able to prove to the people that he is, in fact, a strong leader.  It is the only way he can prove to the people that he is willing to fight for what he believes in.  It is the only way he can prove to the American people that if given their trust he will fight for them, he will fight to defend them and their families both in terms of domestic politics and in terms of protecting us from threats emanating from around the world.

It's that simple folks.  Have we not had enough of losing already?  Have we not had enough of losing fights we could easily have won?  If Obama doesn't start to demonstrate his ability to fight for something and win then we're all fucked.