We Officially Have a Clusterfug

TW: We have a gaping void of leadership in Washington. The final days of George Hoover Bush are likely to go down in history as an utter disaster (a fitting, if painful, conclusion to a disastrous presidency). When the POTUS has lost all respect and by association his entire administration you get days like today when Congressional mopes just flutter about with ideological incompetence. I would put on your seat belt.

From Felix Salmon at Portfolio:
"What's clear is that this is no way to put together a coherent bailout package which carefully balances the interests of all stakeholders. Instead, Washington has descended into unhelpful finger-pointing, with the White House blaming Congress, the Democrats blaming the Republicans, and everybody caring far too much about taking a two-month-long vacation in the middle of a worst economic and financial crisis in living memory."

From Surowiecki at New Yorker:
"...with the economy sinking, the stock market evaporating, and credit markets freezing up, does Henry Paulson really have nothing better to do with his time than give yet another speechàI understand he’s worried—justifiably—about his reputation, and anxious to get his version of the story out there. But we’ve heard it already, time and again, and we don’t need to hear it anymore."