The Financial Crisis: Outrageous, Maddening, Depressing, Worrisome...

Apocalyptic???

Clearly the ordinary people of the world got massively screwed--- once again. And the elites make off with the riches. But the bigger issue is where this is all going.

I suspect the economy will survive-- we're not going to have a huge depression, the country is not going to fall apart, people aren't going to be rounded up and put in detention camps or be exterminated.

But still, the country is in a hole. The Obama administration's credibility is getting (rightfully) trashed and the massive debt will severely limit future action by the government. The dream of a more progressive society seems distant. Lots of people will be hurting for years.

It's all the fucking bankers' fault, and there is rightfully populist rage against them. But yet it seems they will get away with everything, again-- except for a few fall guys like Bernard Madoff.

When will there ever be justice against the robber/predator elites? Will any leaders ever be strong enough to go after them and win?

UPDATE:
The problem in a nutshell:

If this were a medical emergency, it appears it would look something like this:

The Illness- reckless and irresponsible betting led to huge losses
The Diagnosis- Insufficient gambling.
The Cure- a Trillion dollar stack of chips provided by the house.
The Prognosis- We are so screwed.

UPDATE 2: Greenwald:

Matt Taibbi's new Rolling Stone article perfectly summarizes what the AIG scandal reveals about our political and economic system, and should be read in full. In sum: financial elites own the Government and both political parties. Their money drowns Washington and their lobbyists control it. They used that ownership of Government to abolish decades-old legal and regulatory protections which previously constrained what they could do. In the lawless environment which they literally purchased from our political leaders, they were able to pillage and pilfer and steal without limit. And even now that everything has come crashing down, they continue to dictate what the Government's response is, to ensure that they -- the prime authors of the disaster -- are the prime beneficiaries, at the public's expense, of the "solutions," solutions which preserve their ill-gotten gains and heighten even further their power and influence.

Well, yes-- though of course it's all much worse than this! For fucks' sake, the fuckers have done so much more than just financial shenanigans, things such as 9/11. But basically, they have gotten firm control over the levers of power-- and they aren't letting go UNLESS WE DAMN WELL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

The problem also here and related items--
Madoff in lockdown... and this rant from Olbermann: