When the Wise Men of Washington Go on TV to Say They Have to Take Drastic Action to Protect the American People

I know we're screwed:

Henry Paulson ... sounded on the verge of panic ... but that didn't stop him from repeating the following talking points, which he spewed out again on all the shows:

The mission now is "protecting the American people." He repeated that hoary bromide at least five times by my count. (This exact same line was also repeated by John Boehner several times on another show. Nothing as simple and direct was said, at least that I heard, by a Democrat.)

Paulson wants a "clean" bill. Translated, that means no limits on executive compensation, no slowing of mortgage foreclosures, no accountability.

You'll be happy to know that this is not a sinkhole like the Bush/Iraq war, because he - Paulson - is going to buy bad debt that will later be sold to make money. How this magic trick would be accomplished, more specifically, how much money would be made, was not mentioned. Correction - the subjects of mechanisms and money to be made were deliberately, if crudely, avoided.

John Boehner repeated at least three times that this is a time to rise above partisanship. (Translated: this is a time to try to tightly wrap this crisis around the Democrats' throats by blaming the current Congress.)