"I read that Obama is pushing for a Detroit bailout. And so it begins. So far the Canadian government has not said that there will be any bailouts, since our economy is currently much more sound than the US. I hope they hold fast and not succumb to short-term thinking and panic. "

Do you have anything like factual data to back that statement up?

Admittedly, it's a tough situation. I'm a free trade-type myself, because I believe that innovation and competition improve our quality of life as a whole. We, as a society are able to get better goods more cheaply and better jobs emerge under a global, competitive market.

But that doesn't mean there aren't hardships for individual people. I mean, I feel really bad for the folks at William's workplace. They didn't do anything wrong, but they are losing their jobs. But I don't think protectionism is the answer.

Scott Richards wrote: The auto industry is really no different from the steel industry and we see what happened there.  We still use steel, just not US steel.  Cars will be the same way.  The US auto industry can reinvent itself or become extinct the way the US steel industry did.

Much better analogy rather than mimeographs, milk and ice truck drivers, and typewriter companies.  Thank you.

Any predictions on the remaining outstanding Senate races?

Alaska - Begich (D) by a few thousand votes
Georgia - Chambliss (R) comfortably
Minnesota - Anyone's guess; but advantage Coleman (R) because he goes into the recount with a lead (this is the guy I like LEAST of all three incumbent Republicans)

If my predictions hold, the Democrats will go into the new Congress with 58 seats (assuming Lieberman stays in the caucus).  I say say you can't kick him hard enough to the curb.

Why do you like Coleman less than Stevens?

but advantage Coleman (R) because he goes into the recount with a lead (this is the guy I like LEAST of all three incumbent Republicans)

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Considering the alternative is Stuart Smalley (sp?), I think Minnesota is better off with Coleman. Or even Walter Mondale, Jesse "the Body" Ventura or the mayor of Lake Wobegon. Al Franken has the potential to be a train wreck in the Senate.

And if I'm a Democrat, I wouldn't be too eager to get back at Lieberman. Despite his differences with the party, he remains aligned with the Democrats on many key social and economic issues and is a strong advocate for those issues (public education, pro-choice, etc.) Plus, he's been a very effective and respected Senator for, what, nearly 30 years?

Ditching Lieberman would be a sign that the Dems aren't really interested in inclusiveness. Having said that, as a Republican, I'd gladly welcome an honorable man like Joe Lieberman into the GOP. He's exactly the kind of common-sense guy the Republicans need right now.

Mark,

I am following this race, as I do all national elections, very closely.  First off, Minnesota HARDLY has a history or reputation for dirty elections.  Second, for the life of me I can't figure out where the Republican complaints were 6-years ago when in a very tight, three-way Senate race (sound familiar) Coleman was the recipient of 400+ "found" votes in the final canvassing stage (twice the number allotted recently to Franken)?  To boot, there was no outcry from the DFL (Minnesota Democrats) when Coleman benefited from that either.  Canvassing ALWAYS results in a few hundred or even thousand votes shifting in every major election (with millions upon millions of votes cast), in every state. 

Not surprisingly, it turns out the "Sarah Palin doesn't know Africa is a continent" flap is a complete hoax.

The fictional "story" originated from a couple of bloggers, who created this Borat-like character named Martin Eisenstadt, a fictional McCain advisor. From there, they cooked up this bogus story about Palin and Africa to get publicity. It actually was treated as a real news story by many major media outlets (including Fox News and MSNBC).

A sad day for American journalism to be sure.