Halloween Festivus

After my typical combination of worrying and inaction, Andrew wore the same Halloween costume as he did last year (size 18-24 months) and Will wore a wolf suit we picked up at Costco when the plan was still for us to be a family of wolves and a Mom Red Riding Hood.

We started out on Embassy Row in DC, where the embassies provide candy to hordes of college age adults and a few kids. We did what we could for the GoP. It was Andrew's idea: he wanted the sticker on his back, even if he did sometimes tell me I should vote for Obama.

Andrew flapped his wings whenever anyone paid any attention to him. It was completely precious and hysterical. He did it with a solemn face, but he loved the attention. I loved his wedgie.


We ran into our wonderful friend Jackie and her little kids. It made me nostalgic for Halloween of '07. Our kids were so different then, and Will was not even born until all the festivities but Halloween itself were over.


Even though Andrew was a bit sick, I knew that candy was definitely the best medicine.

Then we wrapped ourselves in tin foil and went to Chipotle Grill in our old neighborhood in NW. We each got a free meal (tin foil costume promotion). Andrew and Jessie bonded.

We spent our second Halloween trick or treating in my favorite neighborhood in the world (perhaps I am not well-travelled): Macomb St in Cleveland Park. My dad grew up on Ross Pl, a little cul-de-sac in the middle of Macomb. We got a photo of us on his old front porch. The new owners weren't home, but when we tried the door we found that it was not locked! We went in and wandered around, reminiscing. just kidding.






I have better photos, but they are on Katie's camera.



The candy from that night is gone now, but the house envy our evening on Macomb St inspired in me has yet to completely subside.

I felt like the character Emily in Our Town, only I would be addressing the residents of Cleveland Park from my townhouse development in Oakton rather than my family from beyond my grave. The sentiment is the same: "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?"

Thus passed our Halloween '08, walking my Dad's old haunt from 1954 and my old wistful stomping grounds from last year. And my little bunnies keep getting bigger. How many more Halloweens will I get to spend this way?

Ward Halloween Party

We took a dragonfly and a caterpillar to the ward party where they got a lot of candy

a little bit of hotdog

and a viral infection that lingers to this day.

Like Father Like Son

My boys really do look like their dad. I submit that they are cuter, but I suppose that is because I am their mother (both the reason for me thinking it and the reason for it being true! just kidding) Here is some evidence of the similarities:

Bedtime

I love how Will looks here. Those are my favorite pjs of his. They are so snuggly and warm, which is important to me bc I end up snuggled next to them from about 1am on. And Andrew looks just like Brig did when he was little in a particular photo taken in front of his home with a backpack on. Do you remember this one, Momo?

After the bath, the boys gather naked either in my room on the bed or in Andrew's room. They jump on the bed in various stanges of dress and get really wound up.

We let them play around and compete. Brigham tries to be involved with whatever energy he has. Usually he lays on the floor when not called upon to dress, clean, retrieve and read.

I take Will and depart and Brig stays with Andrew. Andrew will see one of us again in a few hours in our nightly crusade to prevent him from wetting the bed.

The routine is harder, but gets completed faster on the nights when Brig is not around to help. I guess my desperation is more intense to get them to bed.

Nationals Game in August

My parents' neighbors gave us some excellent (partner at a major law firm-style) tickets to the Nationals game. I wish I liked such things, bc I am sure they are so much fun, but I just don't. Brigham took Andrew and we offered the other tickets to my old friend Carey for her husband and son. Obviously, they came.

Also obviously Andrew loves Taylor. He talks about him all the time even if he has not seen his favorite older friend for weeks. His favorite joke remains, "Chicken with pink underwear!" a remark Taylor made back in Feb or March '08 when I was babysitting. Andrew even copies the intonation. Though it makes no sense out of context (or in context), it is Andrew's ice breaker with other kids.

I hope and anticipate that my kids will be friends with these little Cannons for their entire childhoods and beyond.

Flashback to July

On a walk with Alyson Crook Yoder and her little girl. The kids had a wonderful time running around on the trails. Except when Andrew refused to move away from the rock-throwing and I wished I had a backpack to stuff him in and haul him away.


This was the day before our dog fell sick with whatever it was that ended up killing her. I felt guilty this day for not bringing her on the hike, but also felt trapped by the fact that I had to return early to let her out and care for her. I felt really guilty a few days later for begrudging her my schedule.

The kids dressed up in animal suits and played around inside the little facility.

We will have to go back this winter as the weather gets too cold for being outside for too long.

This was only a few months ago, but already both Andrew and Will have changed and are no longer the same little boys.

The People Have Spoken

I did not vote for Barack Obama, but I have to admit that I am intrigued about what the next four years will bring. I feel like it will be a fascinating experiment in what the American people are willing to do, how well more progressive programs can actually work, and the way in which a people's faith in their leader can make a nation stronger. I do not know to what extent he will be able to implement the various programs he outlined in the course of his campaign, but it will be interesting to see what happens and if he does prove himself to be the moderate Presidential candidate of his speeches or the liberal Senator of his record.

One thing that I do think is that the majority of the American people are wildly happy, and most of the rest are not wildly unhappy. And I think that is an important thing for this country. When Bush won in 2000 and then again in 2004, both were narrow victories made possible largely by 3 party candidates, and the numerical majority (i think?) was pretty upset. There was a sense of contention and anger, and I am not sure that the pro-Bush league (like me) were so happy so much as we were relieved that it wasn't Kerry.

The thing that was very different about Obama's supporters this year was that they tended to not be voting for the "lesser of two evils," as many Republicans were, but were really voting for Obama himself. People do seem to feel a sense of hope and optimism about what we can do with him as our leader. While I have my own misgivings about his policies (and I am utterly opposed to his position on abortion, which I think rises to the level of morally offensive), I do think that our country needs a leader at this time who carries the people's trust to really lead.

He will be making big decisions about the War on Terror and he will be able to make those decisions from a position of trust. If his thoughts on the War continue along the lines they have been traveling lately (away from withdrawal and towards continued struggle), he can do so with the American people behind him because they trust him.

In any matter, but particularly in matters of war, a leader needs to be strong and have the faith of his people in order to get the job done. America does not lack the military capability to win any military conflict, yet we can lose because we lack the will to fight and make the associated sacrifices. Perhaps with Obama at the head, America will find that will to do what is necessary in the Middle East, if Obama articulates the need for it. He will need to waste no time or effort pursuing the faith of the people because, rightly or wrongly, he already has it. I am convinced that he is a very smart man, and I pray that he will exercise his ample intelligence to be worthy of the faith that this nation has in him. I am not beyond hope.

Fireside Chat: Q&A

So the title is making fun of myself for doing this at all, but I thought that I would put in one last plug about the upcoming election. Rather than get bogged down in increasingly boring and legalistic paragraphs, I thought I would just try to keep it super simple. Hence the Q&A format. I selected some questions I have most frequently encountered in my blog reading or conversations with others.

Q: Who should I vote for?
A: John McCain

OK, that was a joke intended to prepare you for my personal perspective. Join me by the fire, won't you?

Q: I am against abortion, but why should my vote be influenced by my pro-life stance when it doesn't seem as if the President has much to say about abortion anyway? I mean, here we are after 8 years with Bush and abortion law has not changed a bit!

A: The President appoints the judges who will determine whether abortion violates the Constitution and whether any attempt to place restrictions on abortion (like parental notification for minors, parental consent, partial birth or late term) are constitutional. The next Pres will appoint probably 2 justices to the SCt. Who is appointed will change everything.

Obama himself is so radically pro-abortion that he voted against, and delivered an ardent speech against, legislation in Illinois seeking to grant legal recognition and protection to babies born ALIVE after their mothers attempted to abort them.
Do you want a judge who will read the Constitution as protecting unborn life they way Obama reads it? The extent to which abortion law can change depends heavily on the judges reigning on the federal bench.

Q: I may be pro-life, but I still think that there should be exceptions. I don't want judges taking away the right to choose.

A: Fortunately, the beauty of the democratic system is that people can craft legislation through their elected representatives. This legislation can draw rather arbitrary lines around what people feel comfortable with allowing and what they don't. They need not, as with legal rules, be followed through their logical conclusion. If the Supreme Court ruled that abortion was not a constitutional right, that does not mean that abortion would now be illegal. It means that states would be able to create their own abortion law. How likely is it that California, Massachusetts, Vermont etc would outlaw abortion? In Utah, people would probably ban it in all but extreme life-of-the-mother or rape cases. It is not reasonable to fear the dungeon abortion scenario.

Q: I thought you said your answers would be quick and simple. How do you explain your over-abundance in the paragraphs above?
A: A poor filter. I will try to do better but am too lazy to go back and cut.

Q: I want to get out of Iraq right now! Why are we even there?

A: First of all, even Obama does not want to get out of Iraq right now. We are there because we had credible intelligence, believed by almost every reliable intelligence-gathering source in the world, to the effect that Iraq was developing WMDs. Based on this intelligence the (Democrat appointee) head of the CIA provided, Bush proposed invading. Hilary Clinton, Joe Biden, and John Kerry and most other representatives, lib or conservative, voted to engage. They did so because they were afraid that a nuclear weapon in Sadam's hands was a major national security threat.

Q: But not Obama!
A: Right, because he was not a U.S. Senator then (2002).

Q: What about the fact that I Have More Foreign Policy Experience Than Sarah Palin? Plus, everyone who went to Yale and Harvard says she is dumb, and so does the press!

A: Sarah Palin has more executive experience than Obama, and she is only running as VP. But further, it is important to evaluate whether she represents the morals and philosophy you believe in. Also, to steal from a very clever article on the subject, Sarah Palin may not know as much about the world as Biden, but at least most of what she knows is true. Click here to read more about Biden's fantasy world and the difference in how the media has treated these two VP nominees. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122325448093406451.html

Q: We need healthcare reform. Isn't Obama's plan a great one?

A: 40 Acres and a Mule. First of all, Obama has not defined how he would pay for socialized medicine. He wants to create a government-run healthcare center. The problem here is that doing this would be tremendously expensive, both to provide and to administer. Where is that money going to come from?

Also, the government would determine what the benefits would be and what the rates would be. Abortion could be a covered benefit (allowing, for the first time, federal funds to be used for abortion). McCain would provide the same care by providing a tax credit, but doing so through the private sector. Essentially, under McCain's plan, the government would give the individual money to find insurance for himself.

Q: Obama is going to cut taxes on 95% of Americans, and those of us who earn under $43,000 are actually going to be getting a check in the mail! Sounds good to me!

A: There are 3 answers. First, Obama's claims are misleading. It isn't really correct to identify what he proposes as a tax cut on 95% since 40% of already don't pay taxes at all anyway. People who don't pay taxes will be getting a tax credit. This is not a tax break, it is a welfare payment.

Still sounds good, doesn't it? It does to Idealistic Me, too--I would like to give lots of money to everyone. But this plan is taking money from the job-creators and mailing it to people who don't even pay in the first place. (Q: But companies are bad and exploit me!) Tax hikes on them drive them overseas which then leads to joblessness here and increased prices for goods. Also, companies important to our energy or medical industries slow or halt their exploration and development etc.

The second objection can be summed up with the "40 Acres and a Mule" again. The short answer is Budget Deficits. We cannot continue to spend half a trillion dollars more than we take in without severe long term economic consequences. The real problem is that we have been running tremendous budget deficits, and what has happened from these deficits is the Frannie and Freddie fiasco. We can no longer continue to spend more than we take in. Obama's plan leads to even more budget deficits.

The third objection is that what he lowers in the form of income tax, he raises on other taxes that contribute to people's real incomes. Under his plan, everyone will be paying social security taxes on your total salary. Factor in the increases on capital gains taxes, which taxes everyone who has money invested (everyone).

Q: Obama is "going to save the world" with his new environmental policy that will get us off foreign oil!

A: Obama is so beholden to environmental groups that his policy is going to be extravagently expensive.

In one example, he is in favor of burning food (corn) to create fuel, while people around the world are starving. Want to know why milk is expensive these days? Cows eat corn, which is now more expensive because of this ridiculous measure.

Obama wants to cut coal and nuclear energy in favor of wind and solar power. The cost of creating energy through wind power is twice what it is through coal and over twice than for nuclear. Unfortunately, the wind isnt blowing everywhere consistently in throughout our country. So long as you dont mind seeing your electric bills double, it should be a good plan.

The principle of getting off foreign oil is sound and important, but there are more economically advisable strategies that need to be emloyed during the transition period. For example, we do need to drill in Alaska. While we should use solar and wind where economically efeasible, we also need to use clean coal and nuclear energy.

Ok, so our chat was over-long, but I sure got toasty by this fire.

There are many policies on the table in this election, but at the end of the day, I just have one thought: economic downturns and upswings come and go; environmental strategies will surface and disappear; healthcare and taxes change and change again.

But the legacies that flow from who is appointed to the federal bench, particularly the SCt, will rule our social policy down into the lifetimes of our grandchildren. These legacies will come in the form of our current social policy debates on basic moral values like abortion and same sex marriage. Do you want judges, unaccountable to any of us, deciding those for you and your children and grandchildren, for generations? Judges appointed by someone like Obama, who has such a radical view of abortion rights that he that he doesnt think babies born alive after a botched abortion attempt deserve legal protection, and who is in favor of same sex marriage?

It is not just about preserving the rights I think are important, but about preserving the right to be part of the democratic process that decides our laws. Judicial activism in the courts is taking that away. Abortion and marriage should be decided by you and me, through our legislature, not by judges who want to impose their social views upon the minority in the form of "constitutional rights."

I also fear for our national security. I wish that simply talking to foreign leaders who hate this country could keep us safe, but I do not believe that to be the case. Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan provided two cases studies in how the Soviet menace responded to wishy-washy diplomacy v. a strong military threat headed by a man who was not afraid to back down. But we didn't talk very much about that important subject in our chat, did we? I suppose I will ahve to suffice it to say that John McCain favored military strategies (ie the surge) that undeniably worked, while Obama had to eat his words on the subject. He has wandered from one edge of opposition to our involvement in Iraq to basically copying McCain's stance when it was just too embarrassing to be proven so wrong. My only hope is that he is pragmatic enough to continue in that vein.

Goodnight, America, all five or six of you who have read this far. Forgive my excesses, particularly since I freely admit them. :)

I Can't Help Myself

Probably because Brigham has been out of town, Will and Andrew came down with the flu last night, and I fell ill in the presunrise hours of this morning. I had to change my bed sheets and bathe Will at 2 am after he vomited on my bed, himself and me. Somehow, though, I actually didn't feel too horrible getting up at 6 with my two insane boys. Both kids were in pretty good spirits, and I had Katie in the house with me. Just knowing that I could call on her to take over somehow gave me the energy to not even need to do that.

So, when it comes to my sick kids and my sick self, I can help myself out. But I can't stop myself from posting these bits of politics on my blog, even though I realize that it probably bugs or maybe even offends some of you guys, and even though I know that there is very little chance that Obama will not be our next Commander in Chief. I will let my favorite political columnist take it from here:

The idea that the United States must somehow rehabilitate itself in the eyes of the United Nations or NATO or "world opinion" is staggering, even though it is an idea very popular in the mainstream media.


The first duty of a President of the United States is to protect American interests — of which survival is number one — regardless of what others may say.


Virtually the whole world condemned Israel when it bombed Saddam Hussein's nuclear facilities back in 1981. But Israel understood that its survival was more important than international popularity.


Let us hope that today's Israeli government understands that issue the same way as regards Iran, since ours may not.


Despite the media hype that we need to rehabilitate ourselves in the eyes of the world, the United States of America remains the number one destination of immigrants from around the world, some of whom take desperate chances with their lives to get here, whether across the waters of the Caribbean or by crossing our dangerous southwest desert.


Even when dozens of governments around the world join the United States in coordinated efforts to fight international terrorism, the media will call our actions "unilateral" if some demagogues in France or Germany spout off against us.


The American nuclear umbrella has enabled Western European nations to escape responsibility for their own military survival for more than half a century.


Lack of responsibility has bred irresponsibility, one sign of which are unionized troops in NATO and NATO bomber pilots who have office hours when they will and will not fly, not to mention NATO troops letting American troops handle the really dangerous fighting in Afghanistan.


Maybe the time is overdue for NATO to try to rehabilitate itself and for Americans to stop trying to be "citizens of the world."

Will is One

Brig is out of town and we all are under the weather today, so this is how we celebrated Will's birthday. He will have a real party on Saturday. Katie bought this ball from a little coin machine during our outing to the thrift store today. Happy Birthday!

Andrew says that you are a funny baby. I say that you are wonderfully independent. You let me take showers while you entertain yourself. You sometimes get so mad that you turn away from me in a huff and refuse any entreaties. You love sweets and will refuse all food until you see something unnatural in a shiny wrapper. I often give it to you; you are underweight, after all.

You love balls more than any child I have ever seen. I even got you to eat some usually-rejected food by rolling it in a ball and identifying it as such.

See that bruise on your forehead? That came from a terrible collision with the headboard of Andrew's bed. The corner of it. That bruise was raised and carried the shape of that headboard. You cried for exactly as long as it took me to get my hand inside the large bag of chocolate chips I use to comfort you. Then you actually got happy and excited.

You love to do whatever it is that Andrew is doing. You are no weak baby brother, however. I have seen you crawl or stumble over to Andrew while he puts magnents on the fridge and push him with your baby hand. You have also attempted to push him away with foot or hand when Andrew encroaches upon your lap time with Nana. I suppose you have learned that you have to stick up for yourself.

One of my favorite memories of you standing up for your rights was this summer when Andrew snatched a ball away from you. The look on your face was pure outrage and shock. You looked at Nana and I with an expression that unmistakeably screamed, aren't you going to do something?! Your favorite word, incidentally, is "NNNoo!" "Ball" is a close second.

You also are trying to say Andrew's name now. You want to be where he is, doing what he is doing and with the toy he is using. You and your brother have much in common and I hope that it leads to a wonderful friendship rather than a rivalry. I also hope that I won't evaluate you by constantly comparing you to Andrew. It is sort of hard, since you are both born in the same month, and you seem to be twins separated by 2 years. Except that you are tougher. Andrew is constantly remarking, with true admiration in his voice: "Look how brave he is!" Usually this statement was preceded by an assault on you. But you are brave. As you have to be.

This skeleton suit is rather appropriate since you are still way too skinny. You have, however, finally doubled your birth weight!

Will, we love you, even if you may have an entire childhood of slap-dash parties in store. I think I will be better when I have your disappointment to face when I fail you.

Sorry, I was tagged

I usually feel embarrassed and self-conscious of doing these tag posts bc I feel that they are boring for others. So, disclaimer and apology ready, here is my Tag

10 Years Ago I:

1) was a missionary in Pichilemu, Chile

2) felt guilty for reading Mere Christianity and Lion, Witch and Wardrobe on my P-Days (books are off-limits to missionaries)

3) weighed an extra 20 or so pounds

4) Was telling many, many Chileans that I was "cynico." (It means dishonest, liar etc; I thought it meant pessimistic or cynical.) I was always surprised by their reactions, which I took to be extreme. "Que horible!" seemed a drastic reaction to my admission that I sometimes thought the glass was half-empty.

5) was pouring salt on my cereal (Zucaritas)

5 Things on My To-Do List:

1) nap while Andrew is at school (he does this only once a week)
2) go to the thrift store and get a kitchen table finally
3) nail down Halloween costumes (where can I get a toddler skeleton that is more cute than creepy?)
4) tidy up the . . . I will settle for just my bedroom
5) go to the cupcake party

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
1) ice cream wtih pretzles crushed up in it
2) saltines with pizza sauce and mozzerella cheese melted in a mug inthe microwave. It is good, you guys.
3) popcorn
4) ritz
5) chocolate chip cookies

5 Things I would Do if I were a Millionaire:
1) buy a house on Newark St in NW DC. Front Porch a must.

2) Send my kids to great private schools

3) Donate to causes I believed in, get things named after me :)

4) Eat out and bring home

5) hire a babysitter once a week to go out with Brig so I could stay home and relax. :)

Five Places I have Lived:
1) an overpriced apartment that was awesome in Cleveland Park, DC
2) an old pink farmhouse that I thought may be haunted in McLean, Va
2) a fetid, brown and poorly-named condo (we shall refer to it as BDA) in Provo, Ut where I once thought my roommate might attack
4) a lovely home in Rancagua, Chile where the shower had a shower glass window on a wall that allowed us to look out into the hallway. Awkward.
5) a hotel room in Cairo, Egypt where I posed as a married woman and ate a lot of pizza

Five Jobs I Have Had:
1) judicial law clerk at Utah Sup Ct
2) summer associate DPW
3) info desk, BYU
4) Kiddie Camp Counselor, Spring HIll rec (i was way better at this than anything else I have been paid to do)
5) Sandwich maker, Skyroom.

I tag:
Jackie
Michelle
Allie

Cox Farm

Strength


Courage


Pride in Achievement

Actually, he could do little more than hold onto the rope and then drop down. No swinging ever took place. Fortunately, he didn't know any better. Unfortunately, this was his favorite activity at that racket of a pumpkin patch.


Is he posing?

And yes, Will was there, too. He didn't want to be in any photos, though.

Tuesday, 7:30 PM

Andrew having fun in the tub.
This is the second photo shoot of new hairstyles with Aunt Katie who, once again, came to my rescue at the bedtime hour while Brig is out of town.


Thanks, Katie. She also taught his some Halloween songs which he sings softly to himself while he plays sometimes.



Will said "Wow" tonight. He has said it about 10 times since. His vocabulary now consists of: ball, uh-oh, boon (balloon), nnnnnnn-o!, duck, momma and dadda. Here he is saying his new word.

Ignore the clutter in the photo while you focus in on the dinosaur book behind Will. He growls at it when we read. (Those beads, placed with great care and forethought on the book, inspired Will to utter his new word as he watched me twirl them.)

Zoo Day

We try to go to DC on Thursdays with Aunt Katie. We had perfect zoo weather. I hauled everyone to my favorite exhibits, like the giant swimming turtle.

Then a fight broke out on the climbing statue.

Will got two bug bites right on his poor face.

Climbing through the dinosaur bones at the tiger exhibit.

Smiling at my reminder of the 8 year old boy with short shorts who proclaimed himself to be "a piece of art!" and then almost knocked Andrew off the platform, making little Short Shorts a piece of something else in my book. Just kidding.


Watching the tigers. Discussion re glass shattering and parental and tiger reaction.

Will roared when the lions and tigers roared (or whatever noise it is that tigers make, as this tiger was certainly noisy today).

Andrew: I think he is just saying somethin in tiger language!"

Lunch from Vace's on the National Cathedral grounds.

Will crawled down the hill and Andrew tried to ride the stroller down.

"I love you so much, Mom."

The boys forwent reverence inside the Cathedral for shrieking so as to hear their echos. Will, too. His shrieks perfectly imitated Andrew's.

Two sleeping boys on the ride home = only one sleeping boy (Will) tonight.

William Walks

We went to Andrew's Little Picasso class this morning at an old elementary school. I always love going to this weekly class mainly because I love to see Andrew in the physical setting. The first day we went, he walked in with his little Cars backpack and he had this funny little confident grin as he bounced down the hallways. I had this vision of him 13 years from now, striding down the halls of his high school, smiling and happy (he will not be an angry, brooding teenage boy).

Anyway, Andrew is not terribly interested in the painting and usually gets his work done pretty quickly, but it is still fun. His teacher is particularly interesting to me. She only lacks a cigarette between her lips to complete the image of a grumpy older woman with personal problems who dislikes kids. Andrew is her second least favorite student. He doesn't mind. He can't understand a word she says; he just wants to know where her nursers are (she is anorexic).

So while Andrew was engaged in Pointilism, Will started walking around the classroom. He could take between 5 and 10 steps before he would fall, but he was so proud. He will be totally independent soon.

Will also participated in the painting today. He was not content to just stay in my arms and watch. He stretched and whined until I gave him a little q-tip. Repeat stretch and whine until I help him dip q-tip in the paint and then let him go for it on the paper. The look on his face was priceless. Just a huge grin. He was even prouder of himself for painting than for walking.

I wish I had photos and that I knew how to get them on the computer.

Fact Check: Not in My Own Words

Ok, so I am aware that I have a readership of about 12 people, but that is not going to stop me from publishing this column, authored by Thomas Sowell (an economist at Stanford). It is just too good.

Abraham Lincoln said, "You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time."


Unfortunately, the future of this country, as well as the fate of the Western world, depends on how many people can be fooled on election day, just a few weeks from now.


Right now, the polls indicate that a whole lot of the people are being fooled a whole lot of the time.


The current financial bailout crisis has propelled Barack Obama back into a substantial lead over John McCain— which is astonishing in view of which man and which party has had the most to do with bringing on this crisis.


It raises the question: Do facts matter? Or is Obama's rhetoric and the media's spin enough to make facts irrelevant?


Fact Number One: It was liberal Democrats, led by Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, who for years— including the present year— denied that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taking big risks that could lead to a financial crisis.


It was Senator Dodd, Congressman Frank and other liberal Democrats who for years refused requests from the Bush administration to set up an agency to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.


It was liberal Democrats, again led by Dodd and Frank, who for years pushed for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans, which are at the heart of today's financial crisis.


Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury, five years ago.


Yet, today, what are we hearing? That it was the Bush administration "right-wing ideology" of "de-regulation" that set the stage for the financial crisis. Do facts matter?


We also hear that it is the free market that is to blame. But the facts show that it was the government that pressured financial institutions in general to lend to subprime borrowers, with such things as the Community Reinvestment Act and, later, threats of legal action by then Attorney General Janet Reno if the feds did not like the statistics on who was getting loans and who wasn't.


Is that the free market? Or do facts not matter?


Then there is the question of being against the "greed" of CEOs and for "the people." Franklin Raines made $90 million while he was head of Fannie Mae and mismanaging that institution into crisis.


Who in Congress defended Franklin Raines? Liberal Democrats, including Maxine Waters and the Congressional Black Caucus, at least one of whom referred to the "lynching" of Raines, as if it was racist to hold him to the same standard as white CEOs.


Even after he was deposed as head of Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines was consulted this year by the Obama campaign for his advice on housing!


The Washington Post criticized the McCain campaign for calling Raines an adviser to Obama, even though that fact was reported in the Washington Post itself on July 16th. The technicality and the spin here is that Raines is not officially listed as an adviser. But someone who advises is an adviser, whether or not his name appears on a letterhead.


The tie between Barack Obama and Franklin Raines is not all one-way. Obama has been the second-largest recipient of Fannie Mae's financial contributions, right after Senator Christopher Dodd.


But ties between Obama and Raines? Not if you read the mainstream media.


Facts don't matter much politically if they are not reported.


The media alone are not alone in keeping the facts from the public. Republicans, for reasons unknown, don't seem to know what it is to counter-attack. They deserve to lose.


But the country does not deserve to be put in the hands of a glib and cocky know-it-all, who has accomplished absolutely nothing beyond the advancement of his own career with rhetoric, and who has for years allied himself with a succession of people who have openly expressed their hatred of America.