Why Laughter (and Forgetting) Wins

Pay attention to the wrong things, and this seemed to be a week when the great ship of state was seizing up, perhaps for good. Brown wins in Massachusetts. Edwards admits to his love child. Haiti aid distribution gets worse. Rumsfeld's name shows up in the client list of DC's leading madam. Obama expresses frustration that banks need more than spanks. Everyone lines up to oust Bernanke. The Supreme Court says that corporations matter more than you. There is nothing good, there is no "crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."

And yet, and yet.... I went to Thursday night's Studio Bee sessions and saw a band of 17-year-olds from Cheyenne Mountain High School operating under the nom de guerre of Dance Over Anaheim, who played some of the most perfect pop music I ever heard. This never fails to happen, because of tiny miracles everywhere. Even in the depths of the early Medieval period, we got the Venerable Bede. As Pynchon said in some of his most graphic WW2 concentration camp writings, the sky can show us a star. It can, and does.

Shot By Both Sides

Let's get this straight: The Fed prepares an $85 billion bailout for American International Group, because the insurer's exposure to derivatives and hedge funds could cause a domino-effect collapse to banks in Europe. So the day after the deal is announced, HBOS and Lloyds TSB both own up to being in such bad shape, they will attempt a merger, thus possibly starting a domino effect in Europe. (Oh, and let's not forget Morgan Stanley and Wachovia.) Translated, whatever we do we're screwed. Look out below.