Chimpie's poll numbers remind me of the tech stock bubble crash of 2000-2001. Lucent, previously the darling of the investment community, had soared from an initial IPO of $24 (or close to that) to $80 a share and I had colleagues who were shifting their entire portfolios into Lucent stock, with some even borrowing money to buy even more of Lucent on margin. Considering that these folks were also working for a Lucent-owned subsidiary, this was really not the wisest of moves, but hell--it was going to $100/share!
Then it dropped to $75, $73, $70...well, a buying opportunity, they said, a little profit-taking, that's all. They bought more. $69...$65...$61...$55. Some started dumping shares of exercising their options. $37...$29...$17...by now it was clear that there was going to be no recovery, as it was revealed that like many other high-flyers, Lucent had engaged in questionable practices to make their books look good. For example, they loaned money to customers to buy Lucent equipment, thus logging the loans as assets along with the sales which had yet to actually put any gear into the hands of customers, who then were to use it to make money to pay back the loans. Got it? Yeah, it sounded corrupt to me too.
$12...$11...and the joke became, "Hey, it can't go below zero dollars." $7...$4...we began to wonder if that was strictly true. It's been hovering between $1 and $3.25 a share ever since, and sinking last time I looked.
And so it is with the Chimpie administration. Bush is at 35 percent approval rating, when it once was at 90-something right after 9/11.
Well, at least it can't go below zero, ha ha ha. Unless you consider the finger in the dike of corruption that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has as one of the digits on his left hand. He's being arraigned today, expected to plead not guilty. He's facing 30 years in prison. Patrick Fitzgerald's appearance on Friday to present his case, according to Newsweek, even impressed Bush himself. If Libby flips...
It can go below zero.
6 comments:
Hey, Olaf. Brilliant metaphor for lowered approval ratings. I wonder if a lot of Republicans are trying to sell their "chimpie" stock right now, or will they hang on to their inherently oppressive ideology to the bitter end? How about this closed session of congress? What do you make of that?
Your loyal reader, theoretical avenger, and arm-chair revolutionary,
CB
Hi CB--Theoretical Avengers rise up and unite! So lovely to hear from you.
Chimpie's down, but no thanks to the Dems, who, I hope, can at least capitalize on the opportunity. But it's still a rotten system with a need for change that permits minority voices outside the parties to get power. Rise up!
It makes one wonder which is bigger, an elephant or a battleship?
As James Joyce put it, it is all, "betokened of an ovoblastic gestation in the prostatic utricle." Not exactly sure what that means, but it seems to fit, and by God I'm on the bandwagon with this one...Scotch
Hey, Olaf, CB again. I was wondering if you had a take on the amazing events unravelling in Paris? Although I would never advocate violence for political means, per se..., it is incredible to see how the new proletariat in a globalized market is rising up and demanding their rights. It seems that people all around the world are growing weary of being a temporary, expendable labor force with few rights and even fewer opportunities for social mobility. I suppose it is easier to pay lip service to liberty, equality, and fraternity than it is to actually inact it within a diverse society--a society, maybe, similar to the US? Is it only a matter of time before our oppressed work force rise up and claim their rights to a decent wage, decent living conditions, and equal opportunities for all--for real, this time?
Yes, I've seen the uprising, which seems more a reaction to cultural intransigence rather than to government or corporate pressure. After reading this from this passage from the NY Times today, what astonishes me is that it isn't happening here:
For one thing, the physical conditions in these neighborhoods have not begun to rival poor urban areas in the United States. Even in the worst government housing developments, green lawns and neat flower beds break the monotony of the gray concrete.
There are more than 700 such neighborhoods in the country, housing nearly five million people or about 8 percent of the population.
The despair in these housing projects (called cités here) has been mitigated by better schools than those that serve poor, minority districts in the United States (education is financed nationally in France, rather than through local tax rolls) and by extensive welfare programs. Even when employed, a family of four living in a government-subsidized apartment typically pays only a few hundred dollars a month in rent and can receive more than $1,200 a month in various subsidies. The unemployed receive more. For all, health care and education are free.
There is crime, but not nearly at the level of random violence feared in poor neighborhoods in American cities. Guns are tightly controlled and are still relatively rare. When a teenager was killed in a drive-by shooting in a Paris suburb this year, it made national headlines. The family unit among immigrants is still strong, as are ties to their homelands.
Contrast all that with our major urban ghettos. One wonders about what James Baldwin called "The Fire Next Time."
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