The Hodgepodge of the News

Wow, talk about things happening in a hurry. How about the DOW closing 416 pts below where it opened (12,632), and all in a matter of minutes not hours. Now I am sure that the west coast favorites, the Democratic party, will jump on this like a run away horse. I am sure that they will try to pin this on Bush as well, coming up with some off the wall accusations. But before they do maybe they need to look at the world economy and stock markets. China's stock exchange took a major nose dive, one that reflected early on the US Stock Exchange. Why is this so though? Maybe because we, to a certain extent, are allowing China and other countries to lead us by the nose economically. The fact of the matter is that the Stock Exchange was due for a drop, according to many economists, but it is not a major recession as most will claim.

But the sky is not falling. Greenspan made what I consider a very irresponsible comment early on and this also seemed to escalate the plunge. However, on the up side, all economic tables are still in place to enable our economy to continue growing. Don't jump ship just yet. Mark my words the stock market will rebound, it may not be to the same level as before the plunge; but all is still well in the good ol' US of A.

Then there was the dysfunctional attempt to assassinate VP Cheney in Afghanistan yesterday.

In the mean time though, it seems that the Democrats are still struggling to find themselves. Things went very smooth for the Democrats in Congress during their first 100 hours. However, that is because they didn't allow the Republican party to make any noise. They shut them out. Then they turned around and said that they are going to run a more open and transparent congress. Maybe they need to get the paint remover out. For it is still the same as it was during the 100 hours of milking the Democrats did. No amendments on whether or not to agree with the presidents "surge", their excuse was," it might cloud the discussion". When this did not pass in the Senate, Pelosi and Murtha teamed up with an attempt to choke the president and "his" war by putting so many exceptions or restrictions onto the funds needed, that it would basically make our troops inoperative in combat situations. This to has gone by the wayside due to the lack of unification in the Democratic Party, and their inability to get any Republicans to cross over. Now they are is serious Perl of loosing the majority in the Senate if Lieberman (I) decides to cross the aisle and start siding with the Republicans. This would be a serious blow to the nose in the air Democrats. Then there is the attempt to rewrite the U.S. mission in Iraq by repealing the earlier stamp of approval by the Congress for the war. The truth of the matter is, the Democrats do not want to have any claim on the war in Iraq, win or loose. They want this to be a purely Republican issue, even though it took a lot of Democrats to authorize this war.

Then there is the dysfunction between the Democratic Presidential candidates. Obama and Hillary, Edwards and the rest of the world, Dodd on follow the leader. Especially with Hillary coming out early and stating that "Bill is off limits". Sorry your majesty, but Bill is fair game as your cronies proved when they started, or tried to hog tie Cheney in the last election by bringing in his daughter into the debates. Then you have Geffen making remarks about the Clinton's, and then Queen Hillary demanding that Obama distance himself from Geffen for his remarks. Yet, this same person (Geffen) made the Clintons millions in donations during his races and her last run at the Senate, they didn't mind him making comments then.

Things don't look much better on the Republican side either. McCain's run is on a down hill slide and making certain remarks about Roe v. Wade, the environment, and remarks about former Sec. of Defense Rumsfield, just to name a few. Then there is Romney trying to decide which side he is actually on concerning many issues. With just about a year to go before front runners for both parties will be identified, it could be a wild ride. Giuliani, at this point in time seems to be the lead runner for the Republicans. Could it come down to a Hillary v Rudy contest in 2008? Jumpin politics Batman...could it get any better?