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This week's big brouhaha is the bonuses to AIG executives, the company that insured many of the banks that got bailouts.
If we just focus on that aspect, we can vent our anger and frustrations about CEOs and executives.
But, we know there's more.
First a bunch of banks failed. Failed!? How can a bank fail? Well, somehow many of them did--all across the country--one a week for months it seemed. The banks that didn't fail got bailouts. These bailouts were given out by the previous administration to appease the financial experts, who said the banks were too big to fail.
But, we know there's more.
So, maybe the problem is that there were bailouts given out to filthy rich corporations and their filthy rich executives, whose incompetence toppled those filthy rich corporations--like the auto makers. They got a bailout too, but it seems that problem was fixed when the unions were squeezed to appease ... someone.
Maybe all those people who came on the TV and said the unions were ruining everything were appeased? The executives at the corporations that dealt in the minutia of back-room deals and sub-prime mortgages and bundled assets have decided that bailouts are nice and bonuses are nice too, but layoffs must be the nicest of all, since they seem to appease all the people who dealt in the minutia of back-room deals and sub-prime mortgages and bundled assets. The were so appeasing that they seemed to happen with as much regularity as the bank failures.
But, we know there's more.
With so many people out of work and so few jobs available, the banks appeased their shareholders by refusing to loan money to anyone. So, now we have millions of people out of work and unable to stay in their homes. Their homes are now in foreclosure and the families that had lived in them are out ... somewhere.
Those foreclosed homes are somehow back on the market and selling at ridiculously reduced rates, but the families that had previously lived in them aren't able to buy them back, either because they're unemployed (which is at its highest rate in decades) or because banks aren't loaning money. Someone is going to buy those homes, who could it possibly be? Who could have the assets to buy all those homes and how will occupy them? Will whoever is buying them live in them or will they be rented out? And to who and for how much?
There's probably more ...
The GOP-controlled media has been obsessing about certain aspects of this crisis--yet avoiding others--while the GOP party is desperately trying to improve its image and get back into power. (Michael Steels may be out of the RNC, wha?) Over the past week, the GOP staged astroturf protests with teabags and GOP governors proclaimed far and wide how they won't accept federal funds to help their citizens states, because it will appease those who believe this type of behavior simulates "integrity."
I'm sure there's more ...
Today's big story seems to be: who can be blamed for the mess.
Well, before we can answer this, we have to ask, "which mess?"
The banking mess? The employment mess? The foreclosure mess? The Iraq mess? Hush.
The GOP-controlled media is trickling the information down to us. Maybe because they don't think we can handle it or, because they fear that we can. So, it comes out slowly and controlled, drip, drip, drip into the TV, internets and talk radio.
Bailouts were bad, then they're good--except if you want to make everyone think you have integrity, then they're bad again.
Drip.
Some companies are too big to fail, but there are others that are big, but they hire union people, who are bigger, but not so big that they can't be allowed to fail, just renegotiated.
Drip.
The comedian makes fun of a scapegoat and the market rallies.
Dri ... Wait, wait, everyone seems to like that one. Let's see if we can feed the angry, populist beast a bit more?
What could appease this mob? How about CEO pay when everyone else is out of work and homeless. I know: AIG executives are getting bonuses!
Open up the faucet and let the information flow!
Suddenly, we are getting a ton of information about AIG and how much they're getting in bonuses and bailouts and we get a Congressional hearing with the CEO and wasn't there a provision for preventing the bonuses and who was behind that?
Dodd? He's a Dem, isn't he? Okay, drip something out about him.
Geithner? He works for a Dem, doesn't he? Okay, drip something out about him, too.
How about Barney Frank? He's a fag, that's gotta be worth some outrage. His name alone should be worth a few more hours of coverage. How many hours before the weekend? What's Harry Reid doing?
It's not like the GOP needs to smear the Dems as "more corrupt" than the GOP, who are in full rebranding mode. And, it's not as though the GOP-controlled media has an ulterior motive. The GOP-controlled media would have no reason to ignore the Red Cross report or Dick Cheney drooling over a possible attack or Bush hiding in Canada--we've got a Nancy Pelosi sighting to repeat about! What about Iraq? I told you: hush.
Are we getting played? We know there's more information out there about this mess, but can we handle it all or will we drown in all the documents? Should we concentrate on just one thing, or can we somehow get the GOP-controlled media to start covering all the news?
Does it matter that we know there's more out there that what's being reported or is it just enough to know we knew, and accepted that no one would listen?
Banks, and bailouts and bonuses are words being repeated by the GOP-controlled media, but where's the substance behind them? Why aren't we hearing it? And who is making sure it comes out as slowly as possible?
Drip, drip drip?
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