Suck and Swallow

It's all well and good for progressives to hate this bailout and scream about welfare for the rich, but here are 2 realities at this particular moment in time: 1) businesses can't get lines of credit to start, expand, or even at times maintain their operations, and 2) this Congress isn't going to nationalize the banking industry in Sweden-like ways. #1 means that economic activity is slowing down at an even faster rate than it was under pre-crisis fucked up conditions. And "economic activity" represents not only profits but people's livelihoods and security. Outrage at the rape of the economic commons by the Wall Street profiteers feels good but is also the typical helpless flailing-about of the Left who'd rather be "right" than helpful. Even progressive economists like Krugman and DeLong took their compazine and supported the bill. So, when you read folks on the Left expressing relief or some type of moral victory at the defeat of the bill--a defeat primarily engineered by fucked-up right-wing free market nazis--I think you should tell them, no thank you--I don't reallly want to commit suicide today...