Daily Flog II: U.S. Moves Toward Nationalizing Banks

Without even the presence of a major Socialist party during its 232-year history to push for such a move, the U.S. officials took a dramatic step toward socialism by announcing that it is considering nationalizing, in effect, the banking system.

Not drawing that conclusion, the N.Y. Times story "U.S. May Take Ownership Stake in Banks" reports:

At the moment, this just looks like yet another major chunk of corporate welfare — at your expense.

It is.

Or, it's a big step toward the kind of nationalization practiced by Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, Mao Zedong, Benito Mussolini, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Ferdinand Marcos, various Saudi Arabian kings, and the Israeli government in 1983 (following a bank crisis).

Or, it's the Commie pinko enslavement that we so vigorously fought against for decades.

Or, it's just plain socialism — but because this is taking place under a Republican administration, it's socialism for rich people first and then probably never for the rest of us.

Take your pick.

Neither Milton Friedman nor Ayn Rand could be reached for comment.

And here's some other stuff to read . . .

NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

The Age (Australia): 'Testicles option to embryonic stem cells'

Washington Post: 'AIG Gets More Government Bailout Cash'

The Age (Australia): 'Widow sues US over Iraq veteran's suicide'

Harper's: 'Let There Be Markets: The evangelical roots of economics'

Washington Post: 'FCC Probes Ties Between Military and Pundits'

McClatchy: 'McCain's mortgage plan draws fire from Obama, economists'

Cryptome: 'Protecting Individual Privacy in the Struggle Against Terrorists'

New York Review of Books: 'James Baldwin & Barack Obama'

N.Y. Times: 'U.S. Study Is Said to Warn of Crisis in Afghanistan'

McClatchy: 'Russia shutters its markets again as deeper problems emerge'

New York: 'Why the Heads of Our Team’s Managers No Longer Roll' New Yorker: 'The Debtor's Dilemma' (Steve Coll)

BBC: 'Bomber strikes Iraqi courthouse'

The Onion: 'Special Report: The Great Onion Schism Of 1783'

New York: 'Browse 120 Sweaters'