Today's stock market decline made it into the history books, and that is no surprise.  The failure of Congress to pass legislation to shore up the severely weakened financial markets is still reverberating around the world as we type this.  In totality, the events of today are a microcosmic of the macrocosmic problems this nation faces.  Let's run them down:

• Members of Congress claim that most where receiving heavy pressure from their constituency to oppose the "bail out" legislation.  Some said by a ratio of 90 to 1 in opposition.  Professional politicians got in the way of important legislation because they were more worried about the wrath of The Stupid Nation than they were about the country.  It is the responsibility of every Congressional representative to stand up and ignore the electorate when the electorate is wrong.  Political cowardice dictates the opposite.  Politicians sometimes have to save their constituency from themselves.  In this case, Congress failed the nation, utterly.
  

• The Stupid Nation - these people who opposed this bill so vehemently failed to consider that by not passing this legislation, they imperiled their own 401k's, IRA's, 403B's, 529's and so on.  It's like punching yourself in the face - funny to watch perhaps, but also sad.  As we have complained repeatedly, a huge number of Americans get their news from headlines and sound bites.  They have no idea what is actually going on or why.  These people are a disgrace to themselves and everyone else.  An ignorant populace cannot sustain a democracy.

• A birds-eye view into a leaderless Government.  This isn't about President Bush being a lame duck.  This is about the entire leadership structure of the United States Government failing to lead.  President Bush went before the nation, claiming the economy was in peril and how important Government intervention was, but he did not bother to really explain why.  Without educating The Stupid Nation as to the mechanics of why the bail-out was necessary, he lost his audience.  No one ever made the link between a seemingly abstract financial crisis and how it could threaten the retirement savings/investments for the entire nation.   From President Bush on down the chain of political command, this crisis has been botched spectacularly.  The vacuum in Washington DC is palpable.   President Bush was handed an opportunity to lead the nation out of peril in the wanning days of his tenure - he blew it, as usual.  Today we get a disinterested Chief Executive stating meekly he was "very disappointed" when we desperately need a podium pounding leader calling the Nation to action.   We predict posterity will be very unkind to the Bush Presidency - very unkind.

• Nancy Pelosi re-affirmed for us two things - First, she is headmistress of The Stupid Nation, by making a corrosive speech on the false premise that the crisis is born of conservative doctrine,  she enraged the Republicans at the worst moment possible.  Were there Republicans petty enough and small enough to vote against this bill for spite?  You can bet Pelosi's fat ass there were.  Second, her reprehensible behavior as a "leader" in Washington affirms that she is one of the worst Speakers in the history of the position.  As we demonstrated in our previous post - liberal social engineering played a much more significant role than conservative financial doctrine.  Then, of course, there is the pesky fact that ever since the Democrats took control of the House, they did absolutely positively nothing to head off this crisis, though opportunity abounded.

As the United States goes, so goes the world.  The world economy stands on a knifes' edge.  Will enough politicians lean over the precipice and drop some spittle into the bottomless chasm only to hear no splat?  Or will they lean back and do what is necessary to prevent an implosion that promises dwarf The Great Depression as assuredly as an elephant dwarfs a flea?

Like it or not, we are along for the ride, so we will all find out together.