Sep 21, 2008
Where's My Pitchfork?
Glenn Greenwald is spot on. The complete (though ever-changing) elite consensus over the financial collapse.
"One doesn't have to be an economics expert in order for several facts to be crystal clear:
"First, the fact that Democrats are on board with this scheme means absolutely nothing. When it comes to things the Bush administration wants, Congressional Democrats don't say"no" to anything. They say"yes" to everything. That's what they're for."
"Second, whatever else is true, the events of the last week are the most momentous events of the Bush era in terms of defining what kind of country we are and how we function -- and before this week, the last eight years have been quite momentous, so that is saying a lot. Again, regardless of whether this nationalization/bailout scheme is"necessary" or makes utilitarian sense, it is a crime of the highest order -- not a" crime" in the legal sense but in a more meaningful sense."
"Third, what's probably most amazing of all is the contrast between how gargantuan all of this is and the complete absence of debate or disagreement over what's taking place."
"[W]hat I do know is that an injustice so grave and extreme that it defies words is taking place; that the greatest beneficiaries are those who are most culpable; and that the same hopelessly broken and deeply rotted institutions and elite class that gave rise to all of this (and so much more) are the very ones that are -- yet again -- being blindly entrusted to solve this."
"One doesn't have to be an economics expert in order for several facts to be crystal clear:
"First, the fact that Democrats are on board with this scheme means absolutely nothing. When it comes to things the Bush administration wants, Congressional Democrats don't say"no" to anything. They say"yes" to everything. That's what they're for."
"Second, whatever else is true, the events of the last week are the most momentous events of the Bush era in terms of defining what kind of country we are and how we function -- and before this week, the last eight years have been quite momentous, so that is saying a lot. Again, regardless of whether this nationalization/bailout scheme is"necessary" or makes utilitarian sense, it is a crime of the highest order -- not a" crime" in the legal sense but in a more meaningful sense."
"Third, what's probably most amazing of all is the contrast between how gargantuan all of this is and the complete absence of debate or disagreement over what's taking place."
"[W]hat I do know is that an injustice so grave and extreme that it defies words is taking place; that the greatest beneficiaries are those who are most culpable; and that the same hopelessly broken and deeply rotted institutions and elite class that gave rise to all of this (and so much more) are the very ones that are -- yet again -- being blindly entrusted to solve this."