Economy Continues To Suck, Outrage Over The Rescue Plan, Canada Lurves Obama, Follow Up On Child Shooter, And Jack Gray Pops Up On The Webcast

Hi all. A blogger is tired. I'm going to steamroll through this thing, hit on the webcast, and call it a night. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. Okey-dokey? We kick things off at the Wall of Doom with Ali Velshi, who talks unemployment and makes us all very sad. Anderson Cooper then throws him a question from ever-present 360 blogger, Cindy, regarding the housing rescue plan and whether or not there is a way to tell the difference between innocent victims and those who were irresponsible. Answer: Not so much. But hold that thought.

Next up, we have a Candy Crowley piece that details some of the outrage related to that prior answer. People are upset about having their tax dollars used to bail out people who made poor choices and tried to live beyond their means. I'm not one of the poor-choice people, so I'm annoyed too, but I'm also finding the anger level to be a tad ridiculous--or at least over dramatic. The fact of the matter is that we're in deep here, people. The individuals who are in trouble are causing everyone's property to be devalued. Helping them helps everyone. Should we let everything collapse just because we think some people aren't worthy of being saved? That's ludicrous.

So, to everyone who wants to automatically oppose this plan because they're mad about who it will help, as my friend so sagely remarked, "Life's not fair. Don't be an asshole." I need that on a bumper sticker. Look, nobody ever promised me puppies and rainbows. Yes, some people who deserve to be slapped upside the head are instead going to get a government bailout, but that's just the way it has to be to save us all. Plus, it's important to remember that many people could afford their houses just fine before everything started collapsing and jobs were lost left and right. There are many innocents hurting here.

I just really hope people keep their heads over this thing because so far some of the TeeVee people have...not. Have you all seen the crazy rant from Rick Santelli? The dude is on the floor at the Chicago Board of Trade going off like he's about to start a populist revolution against Obama's plan. Then he points to all the people around cheering as evidence that America is fed up. Yeah, all those Americans at the Chicago Board of Trade. Those are totally the ones who are hurting. What. A. Tool.

Our panel tonight is rocked by John King, Gloria Borger, and Joe Johns, but I'm skipping most of it. Pretty much the main thing of note to me is this from Anderson: "I read one writer today saying that the president should be more spreading hope, trying to spread hope, that he's been doom and gloom. I think this writer said, you know, less mope, more hope." Our anchor is being unhelpfully vague regarding the writer's name, but the Google tells me he's been reading this piece from Mark McKinnon.

I actually agree with him regarding the Great Depression stats, but he totally looses me when he starts praising the last commander in chief's optimism. I mean there's optimism and then there's just blind stupidity. But I digress. I'm just annoyed at his overall "don't worry, be happy," premise. We can't fix the economy by reading "The Secret," you know? Obama is being pragmatic and talking to us like adults. I for one am happy about that. I love hope, but I also love reality.

On now to a Randi Kaye piece on a fraud case, but I'm going to take a pass. Sorry, my brain battery is low tonight. Instead, I shall move on to Erica Hill informing us that there is now a Bernie Madoff ringtone set to the theme music of Halloween. It's pretty creepy. Erica then asks us to guess whose ringtone she's playing and we learn it belongs to none other than 360 blogger Jack Gray. Now, when I was watching this segment I was all, "yeah, right. And his dog is really a drunk too."

Transitioning now to an Ed Henry piece on O Canada. Well, specifically we're talking about Obama's trip to the country, and he's quite the hit with those up north. Our prez talks NAFTA, Afghanistan, and the financial crisis. The only downside to the trip is that it's cold! After Ed's piece, he tells us he got a little something to warm himself up. "I got one of those beaver tails. It's just out of the oven, and you can see the whipped cream in the shape of an 'O.' They actually call these Obama tails." Then he takes a bite. So, to sum up, Ed just took a bite of Obama's tail. Yes, my maturity level really is that low right now. I giggled about this to a friend during the show and not missing a beat, she replied, "well, I'm sure it's tastier than bush." Oh. Mah. God. Double entendre overload! I better stop now before I have to put a disclaimer on my blog.

We then move on to a Gary Tuchman piece that follows up on that story of the eight-year-old kid allegedly shooting his dad and another guy. You might remember the kid was then interrogated by the cops without council and confessed to the crime. Now he has plead guilty to negligent homicide, which means probation until he's 18. He'll have to undergo regular mental evaluation, but will avoid juvy. After Gary's piece, we're joined by Jeffrey Toobin for the legal analysis and he thinks what went down is pretty reasonable. Me too. Sad though.

I'm going to skip Erica's Michelle Obama piece and the "shot," so I can go straight to the webcast. I actually haven't been watching with any regularity lately, but I just happened to catch a special appearance by Jack Gray. I think that happened last time too. Must be fate, baby. Anyhoo, Jack has some business to attend to--that business being the pimping of his Oscar Live Blog (this Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!).

You might remember that the Golden Globes Live Blog was a rousing success, so this one can only be better. No pressure or anything, Jack. Also? I stand corrected on the Bernie Madoff thing. It really is Jack's ringtone, as demonstrated to us when he calls himself using Erica Hill's phone (does this mean Sammy is really a drunk?!). Now they totally have each other's digits, so they can make late night phone calls to bitch about Anderson's enormous ego (Edit to add: I kid because I love, and I edit because some people can't recognize a joke).

The spooky Halloween music brings up the subject of scary movies and we learn that Erica is a total wuss and will not watch them. Jack was apparently made to watch Jaws when he was a wee child and it left a scar. Ooh, I have a similar story. I was shown the Exorcist when I was a kid. Trauma, people, trauma! I like scary movies (Poltergeist is probably my fave), but anything that involves possession freaks me the hell out. Yes, that includes those stupid Chucky movies. Shut up.

Oh, also? Erica might have let some good news of Jack's out of the bag. It was a little unclear. So, if true, congrats Jack! And smooth save by Erica.

Finally, they did it again. The webcast mic was on for about 25 minutes tonight. I'm pretty sure they knew it was on at least part of the time because there was much talk regarding how to get the thing off, which had me giggling over the question of, "how many CNN employees does it take to turn off a microphone?" But they also know there's a risk of an open mic because there was some whispering about how that had happened before.

So, what did we hear? The crew and Erica betting on how many seconds Kevin could spin his wedding ring. For serious. I only blog that part because Erica mentioned it as well during one of the actual webcasts. I had to have myself a little chuckle as I listened to the open mic commotion and then turned to watch Anderson with his "serious reporter" face on, all furrowed- brow, talking about the economy, and having no idea his crew back in New York is spinning rings in the studio.

Anyway, the whole open mic thing makes me very nervous because it's only a matter of time before something goes out that shouldn't and though I certainly won't blog or mention it, somebody out there will. Too bad there's no where to send a "hey, your mic is on!" warning. They're certainly welcome to email me an address (confidentiality ensured) and I would totally be that warner. Or, you know, they could just figure out how to turn off their mics.

Okay, this got way longer than I intended. Bed for me. That'll do it.