Here’s your blogging conventional wisdom update, which in this case sounds VERY LIKELY: Democrats will go out of their way to support a bailout bill by Friday, and then all of the Democrats will support it if it’s a somewhat good one — like the friendly Dodd proposal from yesterday — and then, just you watch, the Republicans will all decide to vote against it (knowing that it will pass anyway) so as to run a populist campaign against the Obama-Pelosi-Bush-Wall Street Socialism Bill of 2008. ELECTION OVER. We’d like to tell the Democrats to make good policy instead of good politics, but screw that, vote against whatever because who cares? Everyone just remember to stock up on canned goods.

Making a “suitcase full of money” stop in the United Arab Emirates today, Bush 41 put an end to those Father Knows Best rumors by reminding everyone he’s still a creepy old man. During a Q&A after some “leadership conference,” the business-friendly Arabs who consider the elder Bush a hero still gave him a bunch of crap about his son’s Iraq debacle. Even the gals called Junior a dangerous twit.

Bush, 82, appeared stunned as others in the audience whooped and whistled in approval. A college student told Bush his belief that U.S. wars were aimed at opening markets for American companies and said globalization was contrived for America’s benefit at the expense of the rest of the world. Bush was having none of it.

“I think that’s weird and it’s nuts,” Bush said. “To suggest that everything we do is because we’re hungry for money, I think that’s crazy. I think you need to go back to school.”

So what about Iraq, anyway? Will Baker and 41 really fix that mess? Time to get your hopes down again. Says Senior of Junior: “He’s not going to change his view because some poll says this or some poll says that, or some heartfelt comments from the lady who feels deeply in her heart about something. You can’t be president of the United States and conduct yourself if you’re going to cut and run. This is going to work out in Iraq.” MORE »

Now that this one’s over, let’s turn to some other questions raised by ABC’s Investigative Team. MORE »

Given that this is still, as of 4:30 p.m. EDT, the top story on ABC’s “The Blotter,” it looks like the answer to the question posed in the headline is a resounding “yes.” But only for ABC’s Investigative Team, who are chasin’ down leads in the Promised Land right now. MORE »