The bail out failed.  Americans are in turmoil. And half the country is screaming that the Democrats did it.  The rest are screaming that the Republicans did it.  Now, you all surely know me by now.  The Republicans did it with the bland complicity OF the Democrats.  De-regulation, remember that?  The concept that “business” knows best and government needs to nose OUT, remember that?

And now, everyone wants it fixed right away.  Not.  Going. To. Happen.  It is like the global climate change, folks—Presidential fiat can’t change that either.  The wheels of drastic and lasting change have been put in motion and there are no brakes.  We might gear down a little from either the planetary “You fucked me up, now it’s my turn” or the Wall Street rollercoaster of doom ride, but make no mistake—-we are taking the ride.

Many progressives are pissed at Congress for crashing the markets.  I have read some sources that say stocks were in a nose dive BEFORE the no votes were all counted.  Many are screaming that the deal failed because of sulking Republicans being pissy with Pelosi; others are screaming that it is all Pelosi’s fault.  Stop whining, all of you.  Pelosi hasn’t grown a spine before and yet suddenly we are to believe that a few words of hers had this effect?  Come off it, the GOP legislators wanted an excuse.  At long last, they are afraid of their pissed on and pissed off constituents, they didn’t want to have thier names on this piece of shit.

Yes, something MUST be done.  But is this the “it”?  Really?  There is anger because individuals and small businesses making the mistakes that these huge banks made do fail DAILY and learn from the experience.  The fact that so much stands to fall into ruin if these hubristic, spoilt rich pricks are not rescued speaks volumes to me about REAL market correction and re-set.  I am not an economics major.  I never had money to handle, I have nothing in the market and barely know what a 401K is, much less own one.

But a few thoughts occur to me as I got up in pre-dawn darkness.  If it all needs this much propping up, doesn’t that suggest it will fall down sooner or later anyhow and all those bail out funds will have been good money after bad?  And good money into pockets of bad men, perhaps?  This is where the working class mentality lives, you see?  People like me don’t understand being asked to trust and pay when it is all we have done all our lives—and we are beginning to see how screwed we have been.

And no, I do not understand why, as a fav blogger (Badtux) puts it, why it would be looney to rescue mortgaged householders instead of the banks.  Is it worse to risk money on little people instead of big people on bank boards for some serious reason?  Saving the rich, we are told, will save the poor—at least per Sarah Palin.  And you know what?  In my experience, very few rich folks ever have given a shit about poor folks, so pardon my skeptical nature here.

If those banks failing and market companies shuddering at window ledges were all run by Paul Newman, I might think the buy out a great idea.  But they are not, they are run by guys who make hundreds of millions in compensation….even when failing and firing thousands of little guys whose house payments then default.

And is it terribly stupid of me to think that if banks had not decided on bubble interest rates a lot of mortgages wouldn’t have failed?   And yet, some commentators blame the householders.  “They should have known they couldn’t take that 5% bump in interest after ten years.”  Right.  So should the banker.  But the bankers said “Well, you know….that is a long time, you will get raises, finish college, be making more money….and hey, who knows, you might have sold the house before then.”  Why are individual homeowners SO culpable for thinking they might somehow pull it out of their hats; but bankers are not usurous bastards for coming up with this scheme to make obscene profits for themselves?

The whole blame the homeowners thing reminds me of the way rape victims used to be talked about: “She should never have been out that late…and omg, dressed in that short skirt.”  Right.  How dare minorities reach for the dream of home ownership.  How dare a woman walk the streets with bare legs. How dare someone with minimum hopes and minimum pay and minimum education believe a banker who tells them “You CAN do this!”  Yeah, sure, they all should have known better.

We peons shouldn’t hope that we really CAN win the American dream.  And now we should happily bail out our betters, because even if they did set this whole mess in motion with their unholy fucking greed, it is OUR fault for trying to get a piece of that pie for ourselves?   I am not buying that, sorry.  Sure, plan a rescue, but make the people who set this in motion pay it all back WITH interest.  Gods know, they never made a loan that wasn’t paid that way….why the hell should they GET such a loan?

It is too dark for me to think my way out of this, but I am so NOT ready to “make nice” as the Dixie Chicks put it.

And John McCain, who thinks this is not the time to assign blame?  Well he can kiss my ass, too.  It is time to determine responsibility and then move to a solution that doesn’t reward greedy asshattery, because otherwise?  Yes, it is just more of the SAME.  I am no Savronola, but it might just be time for America to throw some popular ideas of blame, responsibility, and what being American truly means onto the bonfire.  Will your vanity keep you warm this winter?

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