I can't imagine why all of us ignorant internets users don't have an in-depth grasp of the current financial situation.

Here's the crystal clear analysis of the "crisis" as provided by Pearlstein, Chris Matthews and Jim "Bullish on Bear Sterns/Wachovia" Kramer. (Reminder. This is the best & the brightest of the "mainstream media"):

PEARLSTEIN:And you know, you won‘t like what happens if this plan goes down and the financial system melts down. It‘s just the reality. And we hate to see—to have to do this. We hate to have to put our money at risk here.

By the way, you keep saying that it‘s $700 billion that we‘re going to lose. We‘re not going to lose $700 billion, OK? We‘re going to borrow $700 billion, and we‘re going to buy $700 billion worth of stuff. The stuff is not, Chris, worthless, OK?

MATTHEWS: What‘s its value?

PEARLSTEIN: It‘s not worthless.

PEARLSTEIN: If we knew the value, we wouldn‘t be here. We wouldn‘t have this problem. The fact is, we don‘t know what the value is.

MATTHEWS: Well, what I‘m going by, Steven, is I‘m going by the anecdotal story-telling I keep getting, that these mortgages foreclosed on, that people are never going to come through with any money, that they walked away from the house.

PEARLSTEIN: No, you know what? That‘s—in a few cases—you‘re talking about trillions of dollars worth of these packages. You know, 80 percent of the mortgages in these packages are fine, 10 percent of them can be fine with little adjustments, OK? So instead of people getting 100 cents on the dollar, they‘re going to get 80 or 60 or 70 cents. So please don‘t—it‘s not—they‘re not worth zero, OK? And we‘re going to buy them...

MATTHEWS: Well, why is the federal government the only market for them, then?

PEARLSTEIN: Because no one will touch them anymore. The markets are irrational, Chris. They‘re irrational...

MATTHEWS: But why aren‘t they discounted? If something goes down in value, you buy it at a cheaper price. Why aren‘t there people—why isn‘t the market clearing here? That‘s all I‘m asking.

PEARLSTEIN: Because—the market is not clearing because markets don‘t clear when they‘re irrational. If you think the price is going to go down further, no one bids. It‘s like trying to catch a falling knife.

MATTHEWS: OK.

PEARLSTEIN: And you need to bring a buyer in, and a buyer who‘s saying...

MATTHEWS: OK.

PEARLSTEIN: ... I‘m willing to buy, now who‘s willing to sell? And then you have an auction see who‘s willing to sell to me at the lowest price. And then you start to get some action.

MATTHEWS: So give me an anecdotal example of why a mortgage that isn‘t valued—nobody will buy it on the open market right now, is worth something down road if the government freezes this whole process and buys that paper right now. How does it become better?

PEARLSTEIN: You‘re talking as if it‘s a single mortgage. And a single mortgage, I would know what to do with it. If it‘s a package of a thousand mortgages, it‘s a lot more complicated.

MATTHEWS: OK.

PEARLSTEIN: And that‘s where the mortgages are, and that‘s why this is more complicated that a single mortgage. A single mortgage, I know what to do with. I can see the house.

MATTHEWS: Right.

PEARLSTEIN: I can see the guy who‘s got it and what his finance is, and I can make a decision. A thousand, I don‘t know what to do.

MATTHEWS: Yes.

PEARLSTEIN: That‘s the problem.

MATTHEWS: Let me go out to Jim. I‘ve been corrected here. It‘s not a $700 billion loss, it‘s an $700 billion outlay here by the federal government which will have an unrealized or an unmeasurable value at some point to the Treasury, right?

CRAMER: Right and...

MATTHEWS: Whoever is going to all that paper has to—will sell it or do something with it, will discount it somewhere, and we‘ll have something left.

CRAMER: Steve is so right here. It‘s so great to hear someone who is not on Wall Street complaining about this plan because, boy, he‘s got clarity to this.

And did you know Pearlstein won a Pullitzer Prize?

I set the date as March 26, 2008 when some of those who supported this bailout start writing their mea culpas about their "mistake".

And he/she will call for a bi-partisan, common sense, solution, that not only helps Wall Street but Main Street, Country First, it's not the time to play the blame game by harrassing those for past misjudgements, to move forward instead and God Bless America - The Greatest Country Everrr!

And to illustrate their seriousness CW worshippers will plead with President Obama to appoint a financial advisory commission featuring Rubin, Greenspan, Paulson, Kissinger, Ed Meese and the always-available, Chuck Robb to come up with a solution.

But what do I know, I was one of those nitwits who thought invading Iraq would lead to a never-ending war and $100 per barrel for crude oil.