Well, here we go again. As usual, the past couple of weeks there have been a few articles on how the economy really isn’t THAT bad. In fact, that was a large part of the title of this article from McClatchy while USA Today offered up this from a Maria Bartiromo interview with the head of AIG, Robert Benosche (with a McCainesque “There’s a core of strength to the economy”). However once again, the reality on the ground rears up to refute the cheerleaders. Today’s (Thursday, August 18) Initial Unemployment Claims report for last week is out and the numbers are back over the dreaded 400k line once again (via Reuters):

Of course, the freedom from Rule of Law that the administration from Hell gave us has exploded into tragedies like the freedom from jobs, the freedom from safety of our food and environment, freedom from living wages, and freedom from health care.

This morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Rolling Stone Executive Editor Eric Bates discussed Ari Berman’s latest article on marijuana legalization, appropriately entitled “Just Say Now” (catchy, isn’t it?).