BAILOUT POLITICS ... CLEAR THE VOMITORIUM

So I'm flipping through the channels trying to determine whether anyone is reporting that the Bush administration will get their bailout proposal. This morning it looked like the Democrats got some of their concerns addressed, which had the press discussing a bailout bill that could be voted on today or tomorrow. Suddenly, John McCain is air-dropped in, and just like that it looks like there will be no bailout any time soon.

Right now the press is blaming Republican Minority Leader, John Boehner, especially since it appears he agreed to many of the provisions that are now being rejected beforehand. Here's what many people see ...

1. President Bush has little or no influence within his party.

2. John McCain has little or no influence on events.

Then we have the real world.

Obama was eating McCain's lunch the past two weeks. Sarah Palin was looking like a bit player from the movie FARGO. Their poll numbers were slumping. What we have going on today is a major game of political theater playing out between John McCain, John Boehner and the American taxpayer. The prize? The American presidency.

Everyone knows that Paulson and the president want their plan. Everyone knows Boehner prefers something that guts Obama's proposals (an equity stake in firms for the American taxpayer, CEO pay limits, homeowner relief, and bi-partisan oversight panel). This is where John McCain comes in.

By having McCain show up, Boehner has his trump card. McCain's "Drama Queen Politics" distracts the press from Boehner backing away from an agreed upon plan. Keep in mind the press is on McCain like white on rice (or incompetence on Bush). This works for the republicans because they can show that they don't support a lame duck and highly unpopular president's bailout proposal. They can now angle for something that will weaken Obama's proposals. McCain and the republicans steal the show.

But here's the good part. No one is discussing how low McCain is falling in the polls, or how unprepared Sarah Palin is. And it gets better. No one has the time to start talking about what's slowly making its way into the news ... John McCain and his role in the Keating 5.

Obama hasn't spoken at this time, so I hope he comes out and (1) publicly calls John McCain and President Bush out for their inability to get their guys in line and (2) for orchestrating what's amounted to a White House photo-op.

My friends, this is beyond "Silly Season." It's Bread & Circus in the best tradition of Rome. Clear the way to the vomitorium ...

- Mark