The Plastic Snake Offers

We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming re: Obama's mosque announcement - What if Obama suddenly realized all he has left is feeding the Left, so clusterfuckedly he's clusterfucked The Clusterfuck he's no rump left but the Left?

Although not unexpected, the news flow is about to take a more negative tone starting with the existing home sales report on August 23rd. We've been discussing this for some time ... and I'd like to highlight just a few pieces of forthcoming data:

• The existing home sales report will show that sales collapsed in July (this is showing up in all the regional reports).
• The existing home months-of-supply will jump to double digits.
• House prices are probably falling again, although this might not show up in the repeat sales indexes until September or October (this data is released with a lag).
• On August 27th, the second estimate of Q2 GDP will be released. This will probably show a significant downward revision from the preliminary estimate of 2.4% annualized growth. The downward revision is due to lower construction spending than the BEA initially estimated, less contribution from inventory adjustments, and the June surge in exports.
• The unemployment rate will probably start ticking up again soon (or the participation rate will fall further).

Don't call me stupid (the first movie I've watched in a year), but I say the gift-offering (after the bitchslapping) to the hopelessly rump Left was nothing more or less than Obama's desperate rattling of the traditional benwaballs, chiming to lube our loyalties and prejudices.

Then again, I thought Aristotle was Belgian.

• Obama was right, dammit.
• Karl Rove calls you a pussy.
• Leadership and the other thing.
• War pimps.
• Grand farce.
• Economy cooking.
• Wandering outside the gate.
• The Walrus is worried about civility.
• Why is Limbaugh the only one called a hypocrite?
• This time Owen is in Belgium.
• BLCKDGRD translated into (I think) Arabic.
• On the other hand, Moreno is fat, washed-up, and ungrateful United gave him a contract for this season.
• Twenty best kits of 2010/2011?
• The uniform the local helmetball team should wear at home.
• DC domes.
• Crisis in Georgetown!
• Crisis at Needwood!
• The Blog of Intellectual Gimmicks. (h/t)
• The Categorical Imperative of Blogging.
• Silliman, the comment controversy, general bleggalgazing.
• UPDATE! Speaking of Silliman, Articulating a Poetics.
• More bleggalgazing.
• Tom McCarthy interview.
• The Franzen Cover and a brief history of Time.
• Kakutani likes the new Franzen, calls it "galvanic." Shoot me. O! do note the cheap shot at Pynchon and DeLillo.
• UPDATE! On Kakutani.
• Darkblack's Sunday Overnight.
• UPDATE! Dead sound.
• Closedown.
• UPDATE! What is music for?

DEFINITELY

Mary Jo Bang

What is desire
But the hard wire argument given
To the mind's unstoppable mouth.

Inside the braincase, it's I
Want that fills every blank. And then the hand
Reaches for the pleasure

The plastic snake offers. Someone says, Yes,
It will all be fine in some future soon.
Definitely. I've conjured a body

In the chair before me. Be yourself, I tell it.
Here memory makes you
Unchangeable: that shirt, those summer pants.

That beautiful face.
That tragic beautiful mind.
That mind's ravenous mouth

That told you, This isn't poison
At all but just what the machine needs. And then,
The mouth closes on its hunger.

The heart stops.

Have I even mentioned I love Archers of Loaf?