So I'm at the local Target this afternoon, buying a few things to help me clean up and unclutter the house this long holiday weekend.

The store is packed with shoppers on Black Saturday.  Lots of grumpy kids with grumpy parents, wore out from Thanksgiving, a house full of relatives, and too much Christmas shopping.

So I'm pushing my cart along and I see a little boy, probably two or three in the kiddie seat of a cart parked in the pet food aisle, in the early throes of a tantrum.  Mom comes along and tries to calm him down, to which he shouts, "I'm not f*cking stupid!"

I doubt he heard that on Sesame Street from Bert and Ernie.

A few minutes later, I'm near the books and video department.  A small, unseen voice yells, "I want Wall-E!"

To which the unseen mom replies, "You know what you did and why you're not getting it!"

Unfortunately, the child's infraction remains a mystery as I tool along to the checkout lane and the blessed relief that leaving this Seventh Circle of Hell can only bring.

Merry Freakin' Christmas!

In an attempt to go "green" on today's worst day of mass consumerism--Black Friday--SD Watch is doing it's part by recycling previous posts on shopping the day after Thanksgiving.

• Here's the Only Black Friday Story You'll Need to Read (11/23/2007)

Black Friday—the big shopping day after Thanksgiving—also gives rise to the tritest and most uncreative news reporting of the year.

• TV News Chestnuts: Predictable Story #3--Big Event = Big Money in Sioux Falls (6/14/2008)

The mall is busy on Black Friday after Thanksgiving.

• Adbusters: Another View About Black Friday (11/25/2006) 

Black Friday—the big shopping day after Thanksgiving—also gives rise to the tritest and most uncreative news reporting of the year.

Let bad reporting and rampant capitalism reign today!

I don't think Citi should get billions for a bailout.  I'm tired of what I thought were capitalists having their losses socialized while just plain folks get kicked out of their jobs and homes and get no help.

But if we--yes we, the taxpayers--are expected to bailout (I mean loan) Citi $25 billion or so, I think the U.S. Treasury Department should call all the Citi executives at their dinner times every day and ask them when they plan to pay the money back until they do pay it back.

Heck, that's what Citi does. We have a whole slew of folks here in Sioux Falls that do that for a living with the poor saps stuck with 25% interest on their credit cards and accruing charges of all sorts.

Seems only fair to me.

With not just Wall Street but world markets taking a major dump on the financial bed, it's finally official: President George W. Bush is now our President Herbert Hoover.

As the MSNBC notes: Dow slumps amid global rout

It takes a very "special" kind of President to "accomplish" so much:

• Shred the Constitution and Bill of Rights
• Shred the economy
• Get us into an illegal and unfounded war
• Run up massive deficits

In fact, President Hoover looks good compared to W.  He only ruined the economy.  Bush has ruined so much more.  And it all started with a stolen election in Florida in 2000. 

God save America.  We need all the help we can get until Sen. Barack Obama is inaugurated and tries to clean up this tsunami of greed, arrogance and incompetence.

From MSNBC:

BREAKING NEWS: Dow industrials down more than 560 points, extending skid on credit fears



Find out more at http://breakingnews.msnbc.com

While the House capitulated and passed the Wall Street Capitalist Socialism Act today, South Dakota’s sweetheart, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Blue Dog Democrat, voted against the package.

She voted twice this week to not bailout the greedy bastards who got us into this mess.

That makes Stephanie my other Budget Hero along with Sen. Tim Johnson.

As I noted yesterday, I was a little concerned about our (South Dakota's) good U.S. Senator, Tim Johnson, on the Wall Street Giveaway.

Afterall, he had received quite a bit of campaign money over the years because of his position on the Senate Banking Committee and he helped screw consumers to the benefit of credit card companies in 2004 and 2005 with his support of bankruptcy "reform."

But Tim came through like a champ in crunch time and voted against the revised bailout measure which passed the Senate.

I had no such hopes for Sen. John Thune as he's basically Bush's toady.  But I do note for the record that Kansas' two very Republican Senators, Pat Roberts and Sam "Every Sperm Is Sacred" Brownback also voted with Johnson against the Greedy Capitalists Socialism Act.  Nice to see that the Senators in my other home state have some ya-yas.

Thanks Tim (and Pat and Sam).  Now, Stephanie (Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), please hold the line like a good little Blue Doggie and vote against this version again in the House tomorrow.

I contacted our two U.S. Senators' offices today, Tim Johnson and John Thune.

The nice young lady at Sen. Thune's Sioux Falls office thought Sen. Thune, a Republican, was going to vote yes on the bailout before the Senate today.  She said based on yesterday's KELOLAND story, she thought Sen. Thune would vote yes.  Fair enough.  I told her I hoped the Senator voted no.

I also contacted Sen. Johnson's Sioux Falls office.  The nice young lady in Sen. Johnson's office said she didn't know how Tim would vote.  I reminded her that in 2004, he was in large part responsible for tightening working people's ability to file bankruptcy and discharge debts and that if such tough love was necessary for consumers it was also necessary for greedy investment bankers.

So, we'll see.  I have no hope that Thune will vote against the measure.  He's too much of a toady for the Bush Administration.  But if Johnson votes for it, I will be greatly disappointed. 

We'll know later today.

Here are my thoughts on Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin's no vote against the bailout and why the taxpayers shouldn't have to invest in a bad business deal.

Why can't Wall Street get its act together?

It's because of the gays, you silly goose!

So says some on the "Christian" Right.

Some excerpts from an interesting post from On Top Magazine:

In a September 25^th blogpost titled The Nation Will Right Itself If It Fixes Sex,Christian Civil League of Maine Executive Director Michael Heathwrites that the financial crisis facing Wall Street is a symptom ofAmerica's sinful sexual culture, including the acceptance of gayunions.

“Our crisis is a symptom, not thecause,” writes Michael Heath. “I am not saying I know whetherthis financial crisis is God's judgment or not. It is not for me toknow that definitively.”

And:

A related post by Center forImmigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian at the NationalReview's website pushes a similar theme, this time focusing onFriday's failure of WaMu.

Krikorian suggests the big bank failedbecause it was too accommodating to minorities, including gays,African-Americans and Hispanics.

Yup, just like causing your marriage to fail, it's gays' fault that our economy stinks.  Makes perfect sense to me.

"A single debt is a tragedy, a billion debts is a federal government bailout."  --Todd Epp

Comment on why do big corporations get bailed out and homeowners who are foreclosed upon get screwed.

I cannot tell you how many state and local Democratic meetings I've been at where we talked and talked and talked about how to get more people to register as Democrats in South Dakota.

Have ice cream socials; have house parties; canvass door to door.

What didn't come up with was pray that the Republicans completely screw up the economy.  We should have tried that earlier.

From KSFY and the AP:

As the November election approaches Democrats in South Dakota are whittling away at the Republican party's advantage in voter registration.

The Democratic party gained 11,000 voters from April through August of this year.

For the first time in my life canvassing for candidates, I am encountering homes here in Sioux Falls and Harrisburg that are in the process of being repossessed. These are not dumps.  These are nice, new homes in good neighborhoods that are going back to banks.

Unfortunately, it is taking near economic collapse for people to finally understand that their economic interests are better represented by Democrats than Republicans.

Also, another sign that people are paying attention to real issues.  Candidates I have canvassed with and have talked to say hardly anyone asks them about abortion or IM11.  This is in stark contrast to 2006 when it was the first thing out of a lot of voters' mouths.

It's now up to Sen. Barack Obama at the national level and Democratic candidates at the local level to close the deal with voters and remind them that Republicans just aren't any good with money. 

One of the issues Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin spoke about today in Sioux Falls was the possible bailout (she says “extended line of credit) for mortgage banks Freddie Mac and Sallie Mae. She also says she’s undecided.

Here’s an excerpt from her talk. I apologize for the poor video quality. I was shooting my cheapo point and shoot camera into heavy backlighting.

Technorati Tags: Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, economy, mortgage banks, Freddie Mac, Sallie Mae, U.S. House, Sioux Falls, South Dakota