The argument has been that legislation and litigation have engineering the home loan industry to loan to those that would have otherwise not obtained the loan they received. Whether it be a $40,000 loan or a $500,000 loan. The push and motivation for the legislation and litigation has been the desire to balance the scales, too many of those who don’t own homes are minorities. However, the solution to lower the standards is wrongheaded.

But to think Obama won’t be a bigger target than most, you have to be living in a fantasy. Because when it comes down to it, “inspiration” certainly runs both ways, and humans can be real shits.

GWB has put the USA in a far deeper hole than he-said/she-said attacks about who supported which legislation. Both sides have had a role to play in the genesis of the current crisis (and you can point to failures on both sides with regards to housing and deregulation), but the last eight years in particular have cranked up domestic and global risk to a terrifying degree.

You guys are in a vastly shittier position to deal with any crisis — local, global, financial, security — than you have ever been before. No fucking around: GWB, and a very sad state of faux-conservative thinking (which got him there in the first place), put you there.

Let’s just hope that an electoral rout will lead to a healthy refresh of conservative thought, and nothing worse.

@Jeff: I would agree there is amazing amount of vitriol on display on all sides of the campaign and I wish the whole thing was over. A part of me is afraid the campaign for 2012 will start as soon as the campaign for 2008 ends.

Before we blame GWB for the current state of the economy, take a look at the amount of times the Republicans have tried to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and then look at how successful they were at doing so. They were blocked from passing. See the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005

It would take only one.

Given the vitriol on display during this campaign, the sense of division in US political thinking, and the depth of domestic trauma the USA will see over the next few years (we have only seen the beginning of the problems, and GWB has put the USA in an extremely precarious position)… the possibility, however horrifying, does exist.

Political inspiration doesn’t motivate “terrorists” (despite the asinine tripe the current administration has attempted to feed the world).

I would agree the USA does need an inspiring leader. I would argue that neither of the candidates who are currently running are inspiring. Neither of them inspire me to do anything.

Jonathan