“When in danger, when in doubt…”

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“Run in circles, scream and shout!”

My sister and I use this wry couplet to deride a certain branch of our family tree that reacts to crises real and imagined with hair-pulling panic and hysteria. We don’t find it particularly helpful or effective. In fact, it frequently makes things worse.

Perhaps we’re related—by marriage—to the Carvilles of Louisiana. Former Bill Clinton campaign manager James Carville this week urged the president to respond to the daunting political challenges he faces by panicking. And firing people. An indicting others.

Recommending the freak-out strategy is something of a pattern with Carville. Hey, maybe it works for him. And it is nice to imagine that his neo-con shill wife is reaping her earthly reward via wedlock with an explosive anger-fetus.

But is Carville’s advice really sound, even when you analyze the more substantive points? Jason Linkins has a good rundown of why it’s really not here. Among his points is that if President Obama fires his appointed staff, he’ll transform the West Wing into a howling, tumbleweed-infested void since the Republicans have adopted the policy of refusing to approve any Obama administration appointment on general principles.

Carville advises the president to indict the Wall Street greedheads who brought our economy to its knees. And certainly the prospect of seeing those bastards frog-marched warms the cockles of my little socialist heart.

But there’s one leeetle problem with that: Thanks to the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act (signed by Carville’s former boss), the financial shenanigans that torpedoed our economy—while wildly imprudent scams—were for the most part legal.

Anyhoo, I’m confident Mr. Obama will continue to ignore Carville’s concern-trolling. As well he should.

Posted by Betty Cracker on 09/16/11 at 07:54 AM • Permalink

Categories: NewsPoliticsBarack ObamaBushCoBedwettersManic ProgressivesNuttersOur Stupid Media

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Any future relevance he has is in the context of a third party. The GOP won’t have him, and the Democrats since the extinction of the PUMA won’t have him.

Thus this hybrid—the bastard child of of a cold sales call, and concern trolling.

Carville is a scary reminder that you don’t have to be a particularly good campaign manager to knock of an incumbent President when the economy is in the shitter and there’s a viable third party candidate.

But there’s one leeetle problem with that: Thanks to the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act (signed by Carville’s former boss), the financial shenanigans that torpedoed our economy—while wildly imprudent scams—were for the most part legal.

It should be possible to pick one that was an exception to the “most part legal” thing and push it, in the interest of seeing some bankster end up in jail.

For example, robosigning. Realizing the emopants crowd will whine about picking on the little guy, why not charge with perjury any bank employee who signed docs under perjury without knowing the ‘facts’ to which they were attesting. Tell them they can hand over any emails, etc. that would convict their immediate supervisors, or they can get one count of perjury for each doc they ‘signed’. I’d have to think most would make the obvious choice here. Then continue up the chain. It ought to be possible to reach somebody high enough to be worth convicting.

Not endorsing the ‘panic’ ‘strategy’, of course.

The guy looks like a pit viper; I can’t hit the remote fast enough when I see his creepy visage on the TV. 

Carville will be supporting that push to remove regulations on the exotic snake importing biz since he needs something less disgusting than his SO to mate with.

Does anyone know Carville’s win/lose stat with campaigns he’s worked on?

I’m cool with throwing the banksters in jail.  I have no idea why he recommends firing staff - as far as I can tell, they’re pretty much performing the way the President wants them to.

Now Betty, you’re forgetting the examples set by the greatest statesmen of the 20th century. Who can ever forget Winston Churchill’s “Jerry’s Gonna Bomb the Living Shit Out of ALL of Us—Run, Motherfuckers, Run!” speech during the Blitz? And of course we can all quote FDR’s “Be Afraid—Be Very Afraid” address, yes?

Don’t forget that Carville was yelling about the Gulf Oil Spill last year and it was all Obama’s fault.

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