What if we've already had the October Surprise -- and didn't know it?

[nichomachus]

What if the economic "meltdown" were the October Surprise. The thought just occurred to me. Many people thought it would be a attack on Iran, the capture of OBL, or a black-ops terror attack. But, what if it were the economy.

Now, normal Newtonian thinking would say that this would hurt the party in charge because people would blame them for the mess.

But, this is the US of A. Most people have been dulled down. They now react with the reptilian part of their brain. What the economic meltdown has brought about for most people is abject fear -- fear of losing their jobs, their homes, everything.

Once you've got people fearful and insecure, then the old GOP tactics work -- more fear, the Obama-is-a-terrorist robo calls, the racist flyers, the vague hints about Obama hating white people, you name it.

When people are fearful, they tend to retreat to the known and the comfortable -- even if it's bad for them -- versus the new and scary.

Maybe I'm giving them too much credit. None of the economic meltdown was a surprise, but it happened so fast and with such "urgency" that I could be convinced it was triggered -- the economic equivalent of a black-ops terrorist attack.

[ryanmuegge]

1. The bailout was a preemptive strike against an Obama administration

from the neocons. The budget situation will be so bad that the new Democratic administration won't be able to make any real policy changes. This essentially ensures economic and environmental Armageddon. There will be a massive die-off in our country and across the world. It is inevitable. Fiscally speaking (not even considering the environmental implications), the neoliberal policies are absolutely unsustainable.

The more cynical side of me would say that this is less a preemptive "strike" and more collusive, surface-level political cover provided to Obama by Bush to carry out the same policies upon which both men largely agree. I hope to God that I am incorrect here, but the more I see and learn, the less I think that this is the case.