The week of November 7, 2011 is coming to an end and the weekend is finally here. I am more than ready: Between learning of the tragic events that have been taking place at Penn State, the continuing Euro-zone crisis and the volatility on Wall Street I am emotionally exhausted. Add to that the latest events in the race to become the Republican Presidential Nominee and there is plenty of fodder to chew on today.
Serial Child Rape at Pennsylvania State University
I am still too disgusted to put any coherent thoughts together on this tragedy. Read the Grand Jury Report to understand why – but, fair warning, it will take a strong stomach. I tried but had to stop reading. To think it would have taken only one phone call from those in the know to put it to a stop. I recommend you surf over to my son’s blog to get a sane perspective. Me, I am still asking why we can’t make an exception to the Eighth Amendment in this case.
On Debt and Rollercoasters
The week started with the continuing debt crisis in Europe. Just as a deal to bail out Greece had been reached, Italy began to teeter towards the edge and rumors swirled that Spain might be next. (What’s the deal with these Europeans, can’t they pay their bills?) The levee appears to have been patched for the time-being, but after reading this “optimistic” report in The Economist, I think we still have a long, wild-ride ahead.
Speaking of “wild-rides”, have you seen a chart of the Dow for this past week? “The Millennium Force” has nothing on last week’s rollercoaster. The talking-heads say it is all because of the problems in the Eurozone – I haven’t heard the word “contagion” this much since Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. Right now the only “safe” position for the individual investor to take is the fetal position.
Finally, Some Lighter Fare
The Republicans were at it again this week. While Herman Cain was fighting off allegations of sexual harassment and making comments about “Queen Nancy”, Newt Gingrich was slowly gaining ground. I have to admit, Newt is one heck of a debater – and smart. But how smart would it be for the party to nominate a guy who was is the only Speaker of the House to have been disciplined for ethics violations and had an affair with a House of Representatives staffer? Isn’t this the same party that Impeached Bill Clinton? (Can anyone help me spell hypocrisy?)
And how about poor Mitt – no matter how many times he changes his positions on the issues to match what he thinks the voters want to hear – his poll numbers never change. He must feel like Bill Murray in the movie “Groundhog Day”.
My winner for the week has got to be Rick Perry. If you haven’t heard, he had what will probably go down as the loudest “brain fart” ever during Wednesday night’s debate. The good news for Governor Perry is that the gaffe gave him the opportunity to visit – get this – five morning shows the next day to perform damage control. Sadly, he blew those opportunities as well – repeating “I really stepped in it” on five different morning shows just doesn’t cut it. Wipe your boots off Rick and head back to Texas; you’re not ready for the big show.