VoxOp

FINANCIAL CRISIS
"It was a brave decision. By abandoning Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old piece of Wall Street furniture, and refusing to remove their hands from their pockets when Merrill Lynch came calling, Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, and Tim Geithner, governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, had one of the busiest weekends of dispassion on record. There will be much fallout in financial markets over the next few weeks and even more uncertainty."
AVINASH PERSAUD
Financial Times

"This has certainly not been a good summer for the financial markets, though it should be pointed out that we are perhaps overcome by the concept of focus on the bad news. Commentators sometimes point out the need to focus on the fact that 94 percent of people have jobs versus the 6 percent do not. By the same token we should consider that while these banks do have serious problems, most banks do not.

"Indeed Bank of America has demonstrated strength [Monday] and most other leading banks are quite stable. It won't be a pretty period as the economy adjusts to these collapses, but I wouldn't get out on the ledge just yet."
PATRICK EDABURN
The Moderate Voice

"After Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, I was concerned that the Feds would decide Lehman Brothers was "too big to fail" and hit us up for another multi-billion-dollar invoice.

"I'm happy to see that won't happen, and Lehman has to take it on the chin like everyone else. Of course, Wall Street is not happy, largely because many of them were hoping the FM bailouts meant the taxpayer could become Wall Street's ATM ad infinitum. Now that they've been disabused of that idea, the damage from the bailouts can at last be limited. . .

"As it is, despite the gloom and doom out there, I say today is a good day. The government is finally letting a major firm fail; the rest of the market is reacting (some consolidation here, some horizontal loans there) to determine what's in their best interests. The sorting out of the financial sector is continuing apace."
THE RIGHT-WING LIBERAL

BRADY VS. CASSEL
"In trying to find a word describing this game, the only thing I could think of was efficient. Every team plays to its strengths, but I think this game was won, in large part, by the coaching staff or, more accurately, by the coaching staff's careful examination of Matt Cassel's pre-season performance. In so doing, they were able to get a very clear picture of how to assist Matt in managing the game. Not to draw comparisons between Brady and Cassel, but Brady has far more decision-making freedom on the field because he's Tom Brady. To be fair, did he have that much decision-making authority in 2001? No way. In time, I believe Matt will have that game management skill that so many top quarterbacks have. Until then, he's really doing well, taking few chances and winning games."

MAPATSFAN
Pats Pulpit

"The 2001 version of Brady didn't have to win games; he had to keep them close. Anyone who understands football will avoid the comparison of Cassel to Brady: it's like comparing apples to Hall-of-Fame-bound oranges. . .Very little this year will come easily to the Patriots. They will need to avoid turnovers and lower opponents' third-down conversion rate to remain competitive (the Jets got six firsts on 12 third downs Sunday). They will need to score more touchdowns and fewer field goals while preventing opponents' long drives. They will, in effect, have to be more like the 2001 Patriots."
CHRIS WARNER, Patriots Daily