IrvineRenter_IHB
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I received an email from a very conservative relative of mine today. It is old. I believe pre-election. It is a wonderful example of bullshit historical revisionism and political spin perpetrated by Fox News.
First, let me say that neither the Democrats or the Republicans were largely responsible for the financial crisis and the housing bubble. There are a lot of culprits, Alan Greenspan being foremost among them, that are responsible for this problem, but blaming our either of the political parties is giving them too much responsibility for this mess.
However, since the Republicans were in charge, and since their grip on power was particularly strong from 2002-2006 when the bubble was inflating the most, there were very worried about being blamed for these problems in the 2008 elections (they were blamed, and it is one of the reasons they lost so many seats). They launched a preemptive attack on the Democrats and tried furiously to spin the issue as something the Democrats were responsible for, as if the powerless minority was in a position to create this problem. It takes a lot of nerve to put such a bold-faced lie out there, but they did, and it may have helped limit some of the political damage.
This video shows Barney Frank saying some really stupid things about the GSEs. Barney Frank is an idiot, and it frightens me that he has so much power. He will screw things up over the next several years. However, this video portrays him as someone who had power to impact legislation. From 1994-2006, he had none. While the Republicans held the house, Barney Frank had no power at all. He could talk all he wanted, but nobody was listening, and his vote did not matter. To portray him as having power over legislation during this time period is complete bullshit. He had none.
For the arguments in this video to make any sense, one has to believe Barney Frank and other Democrats had political power from 2002-2006. They did not. The only power the Democrats had during this time period was in the Senate, and that was through the filibuster. This is not a position to do much to influence legislation (as the Republicans are about to find out).
Of all the political memes during the 2008 election, I found this one the most amusing because it was so obviously wrong that only a die-hard partisan could possibly believe it. This kind of politicking is effective because it confuses the ignorant masses in the middle and it helps deflect blame from the party most likely to be held responsible.
It is brilliant political theater, and total nonsense.
I received an email from a very conservative relative of mine today. It is old. I believe pre-election. It is a wonderful example of bullshit historical revisionism and political spin perpetrated by Fox News.
First, let me say that neither the Democrats or the Republicans were largely responsible for the financial crisis and the housing bubble. There are a lot of culprits, Alan Greenspan being foremost among them, that are responsible for this problem, but blaming our either of the political parties is giving them too much responsibility for this mess.
However, since the Republicans were in charge, and since their grip on power was particularly strong from 2002-2006 when the bubble was inflating the most, there were very worried about being blamed for these problems in the 2008 elections (they were blamed, and it is one of the reasons they lost so many seats). They launched a preemptive attack on the Democrats and tried furiously to spin the issue as something the Democrats were responsible for, as if the powerless minority was in a position to create this problem. It takes a lot of nerve to put such a bold-faced lie out there, but they did, and it may have helped limit some of the political damage.
This video shows Barney Frank saying some really stupid things about the GSEs. Barney Frank is an idiot, and it frightens me that he has so much power. He will screw things up over the next several years. However, this video portrays him as someone who had power to impact legislation. From 1994-2006, he had none. While the Republicans held the house, Barney Frank had no power at all. He could talk all he wanted, but nobody was listening, and his vote did not matter. To portray him as having power over legislation during this time period is complete bullshit. He had none.
For the arguments in this video to make any sense, one has to believe Barney Frank and other Democrats had political power from 2002-2006. They did not. The only power the Democrats had during this time period was in the Senate, and that was through the filibuster. This is not a position to do much to influence legislation (as the Republicans are about to find out).
Of all the political memes during the 2008 election, I found this one the most amusing because it was so obviously wrong that only a die-hard partisan could possibly believe it. This kind of politicking is effective because it confuses the ignorant masses in the middle and it helps deflect blame from the party most likely to be held responsible.
It is brilliant political theater, and total nonsense.
