Magically the Senate approves the bailout package first, according to CNN.The latest is that McCain wants to postpone the debate until October 2. If Obama doesn't agree, he can debate some panel of undecided voters or whatever, McCain won't be there. An inspiring display of diplomacy, this one. Still mad about Obama snubbing his ethics reform ideas, I guess! Oh well, I have been watching these hearings for the past two days and the rest of Congress has been doing a pretty good job questioning spooky-looking Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson without angry angry John McCain. My favorite was this guy, because of his accent obviously but also because he seemed somehow emblematic of the shifting tide of public opinon. Walter B. Jones was elected to Congress in eastern North Carolina as a Democrat in 1983 but switched to the Republican party in 1994. He gladly voted to authorize the war in 2003 but now says that was a mistake. He's a convert to Catholicism and a supporter of raising the minimum wage and most recently an endorser of Crazy Ron Paul. (Paul's debate with Bernanke over the causes of the Great Depression: also a highlight.) Anyway, Jones sounded like he was on the verge of tears the whole time! And he had harsh words for the bailout concept, but managed to seem so goddamn genteel while saying them! I felt like I was watching a movie sort of. Except I know the end will be depressing!