A quick recap of last week…
By Monday, after a full-alarm weekend, Americans – and the rest of the world – were trying to grasp the idea that the financial crisis would require a 700 billion dollars bailout. There are price tags that freeze the brain, and it does not help that this problem involves complicated instruments that numb the mind – even that of the Wall-Streeters and regulators that were supposed to deal with them.
Tuesday, after many short acts previews, New York was the venue for the international launch of a new contemporary silent movie, “Sarah goes to the UN”.
Wednesday, John McCain decided to stop the music. With polls plunging, revelations ramped up about the lobbyists who run his campaign, and the impending disaster of Sarah Palin’s CBS interview, he suddenly sensed the financial crisis was a major disaster; it required "putting politics" aside. He announced he was "suspending" his campaign, and called on Barack Obama to do the same. In the evening, the president delivered one his fixed-gaze address that signals major doom.
Thursday, the McCain campaign did not seem quite “suspended” when news came of a bipartisan agreement on the principles of the bailout in Washington, on the basis of the Paulin plan. Worrisome: Senate republicans were in the picture, but House republicans were nowhere to be seen. McCain to the rescue? The senator rushed to the Hill, and visited with them. The immediate effect seemed only to embolden the conservatives, thus ensuring the fiasco of an afternoon meeting at the White House that had been initially designed to end with a happy photo op.
Friday, the fake suspense of the “suspension” was lifted. John McCain backed down from his threat of not appearing at the debate. He had given an chance to the forgotten presidential candidates to remind Americans of their existence, when some of them suggested they could fill in for the republican. Somehow, this year, the exclusion of the smaller parties has not provoked any major… debate. Yet it was a good opportunity to explain to a foreign audience (that is used to public airwaves actually being public, with access to all) the “privatization” of the electoral debate in the US.
The debate itself seem to generate nearly as much interest overseas than in the US, as well as the perceived “win” by Barack Obama. It remains the main news this weekend… up to the breaking news of the late afternoon, that an "new and improved" bailout plan has been outlined, and put on line for all to read.
And because Sarah Palin can’t be responsible alone to entertain the world, Sarah Silverman also does her best.
Nearly lost in all this? Texans, asking for a “mere” 16 billion dollars to start recovering from hurricane Ike.
