Long overdue credit to a good man

The world is not coming to an end, and has not been since Democrats took charge of Washington.

You have to interact with Bill McBride to understand how modest and gentle a guy he is. I’m not as optimistic as he is… but he’s been right when I have been wrong. Now, maybe that’s because the Fed made him right, but in investing, being right for the wrong reasons beats being wrong for the right reasons.

So, I’d like to give a little thanksgiving for Bill McBride, who has been a voice of insight and sanity during a very confusing time. And I hope he’s right, that the turnaround in housing signals a sustained rebound in the economy. From Business Insider:

I’m not a roaring bull, but looking forward, this is the best shape we’ve been in since ’97 or something.

In 97, I started worrying about what was going to happen when the stock bubble burst. By the time you got to the decent part of the Bush economy 2004-2005, I was so worried about housing I didn’t think much about the economy. Looking forward, this is the best we’ve been since then. We have plenty of problems to work through, but gosh, housing is going to be a tailwind for some time.

(Via Atrios)

Neo-Nazi Group Stormfront Joins Ron Paul In Pushing Secession Petitions

Yet another one for the “conservatives and Republicans keep saying they’re not racists, but then they do stuff like this” file:

[Ron] Paul’s support for secession does not come as much of a surprise, considering that he has argued in the past that the Civil War was “unnecessary,” and caused by Abraham Lincoln’s attempt to “enhance and get rid of the original intent of the republic” by using an “iron fist.”

[…]

Of course, this is just the latest in a decades-long line of extreme newsletters from Paul. In the past, Paul’s newsletters have argued that Martin Luther King Jr. was a Socialist pedophile, that “malicious gays” enjoy getting and transmitting AIDS, and that “heroic” anti-government militias will soon take power back from the federal government, among many other racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic conspiracies.

Coincidentally, Paul’s allies on the extremist right share his enthusiasm for secession. As the Southern Poverty Law Center reports, the white nationalist group Stormfront — whose leader has donated to Paul’s campaigns and been photographed with the then-presidential candidate — has helped power the secession petitions’ rapid growth.

Don’t expect to see this on FOX News anytime soon. Unless it’s to cheer on Stormfront.