I felt this was an odd and somewhat ineffective piece from the Obama campaign: odd because it flies in the face of Obama’s high-road philosophy, which is part of his message of change and civility; ineffective because McCain was cleared of any charges related to Keating.

Many viewers of the video and folks who’ve already decided Obama is the best thing since sliced bread—maybe even better—won’t care to dig too deeply here. But by stitching together images of McCain, Keating, and institutions from the current crisis, the creators of this video endeavor to form associations between them, to somehow single out McCain for blame.

That would be incredibly reductive. Deregulation may or may not have been the number one cause of the subprime bubble, if indeed there is a primary cause, but it is certainly not the only one. The argument being made in the video is as much of a house of cards as the foundation of our economy.

Whether you’re for Obama or McCain the question of regulation vs. deregulation is one we’ll all be grappling with for years. We’ll constantly tweak how much we regulate as we try to benefit from a highly complex system. It’s debate that is ongoing, as it should be.

I don’t mean to sound like some sort of free market capitalist stooge or zealous McCain supporter, for I am neither. The video, however, didn’t sway me at all. Thanks for sharing it at any rate.