Let’s agree to agree – at least this 1 time
by Judy Carlock on Sep. 27, 2008, under LocalCitizen Staff Writer
CARLOCK COLUMN
Editor’s note: Judy Carlock reviews the week in news – with her own personal twist.
I took a nap Thursday thinking civilization had taken a major step forward.
Whatever you think of a $700 billion bailout for banks, an abrupt about-face from partisan posturing made me believe well-informed wonks would prevail to save the American economy.
Maybe it was all a dream.
John McCain and Barack Obama had spent an hour holed up with President Bush to try to hack a path through a jungle of bad debt and corporate greed. The move must have been necessary, I reasoned, because why the heck else would they have all been in the same room?
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t think it’s right to reward lousy business judgment. But in a world where so much depends on perception, a prudent shoring up of the bank system seemed preferable to a crisis of confidence that could tip our dominoes toward depression.
McCain is way too pragmatic not to give himself some wiggle room from the statement issued by his campaign: “The plan that has been put forth by the administration does not enjoy the confidence of the American people as it will not protect the taxpayers and will sacrifice Main Street in favor of Wall Street.”
Catchy slogan. It may even be true. But this is not an issue to dismiss with a sound bite – unless it’s “Repubicans are revolting.”
And I am one.
WAR GRINDS ON: Tucson lost another soldier this week, Army Pvt. Joseph Gonzales. He was 18.
Gonzales was killed in Afghanistan, and although his family salutes his commitment, they did not want him to go.
Now his 15-year-old brother, Jorge, wants to join the military. “He wants to do payback for his brother,” said the boys’ father.
And Joseph wanted payback for the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
But how do you pay back a homemade bomb?
Let’s get Osama bin Laden. And this time, stay on task.
SHOP ‘N SHOOT: Who knew you could get heroin at Wal-Mart? I mean the parking lot.
A bizarre shooting at the North First Avenue-East Wetmore Road center started with an investigation into possible heroin sales at Canyon del Oro High School.
Reportedly, Oro Valley police Thursday followed two suspects into Tucson, where they witnessed a drug transaction.
A plainclothesman in an unmarked vehicle approached the suspects’ vehicle, but it rammed the cop’s car.
The cop opened fire, killing the driver. His passenger apparently had a heart attack. And the vehicle crashed into the beauty-supply store where I buy my Candlelit Golden Brown.
Fiction can’t begin to compete with real life.
BACK AT THE RANCH: A gunfight at a ramshackle ranch west of Tucson left three people dead. Happens all the time.
Well, not all the time. But Tucson has its share of weird violence (see above). And southern Arizona is so deadly that three bodies in the desert might not even signal foul play.
The El Rancho Diablo case, though, bucks the trend. No young gangbangers, these combatants: One was 72.
So far, though he’s not charged with a crime, a man found working a crossword puzzle in the area is pegged as a “lead” in the case.
One man found dead was wearing a bulletproof vest and had bombs in his vehicle.
If we figure out what’s going on, we’ll let you know.
BACK TO THE ECONOMY: The Citizen reported this week that 1 in 3 county homeowners owe more on their houses than their houses are worth.
Yeah, it’s dumb to get in over your head. And dumb to treat bad loans like good money. And maybe one day I’ll understand economics well enough to know why bubbles pop so hard.
Is this a crisis? Sure sounds like it. Leadership, anyone?
If Obama and McCain can get an agreement – hell, put them both in office.
Contact Judy Carlock at 573-4608 or at jcarlock@tucsoncitizen.com.
For more on these stories, go to www.tucsoncitizen.com.
jcarlock@tucsoncitizen.com
