Indeed Nate very quickly and effectively posted this phenomenon; when a career is on the line, legislators tend to vote for whatever seems safe.

But Nate has a very different take on the situation than Salon, Daily Kos, and the other bastions of the Internet Left:

"...the schadenfreude of certain liberals on this issue is absolutely obnoxious. A lot of people are going to be hurt by this, and not just those in the investor class. I tend to see this more as a failure of our democracy than a reaffirmation of it. The congressmen who are retiring this year -- and who therefore can perhaps be described as the most neutral arbiters of the public good -- voted overwhelmingly for this measure."

Framed in this light, it is a different situation altogether.

Yes, we are delighting in watching banks squirm, but those same banks hold my mortgage, my car loan, and provide lending ability for everything from new construction to bonding for roadway infrastructure. Do we want a better bill? Yes, but if both sides continue in their refusal to compromise, we could continue down this path until the market implosion becomes a runaway train destined to land in the valley of a next Depression.

And while I am at it, how many who peruse this site have benefitted from the lending largesse? I got a home some years back with little in the way of a down payment, and and delighting in my ability to fix it up. A tighter credit market would have excluded me from home ownership.

I am embarrassed to see the Left engage in the same Us-versus-Them BS that the Right is so well known for. Take a page from Barack Obama and knock it off.

Mr. Gruen was largely misunderstood. His rather grand ideas for enclosed shopping spaces were, in the end, almost always eviscerated by developers looking to maximize short-term profits. The average mall was so bland by the time the bean counters finished with it that it bore little to no resemblance to the European piazzas he had dreamed to replace (he was an Austrian, after all). He himself came to speak poorly of malls by his later days.

Of course, even Gruen completely misunderstood just how destructive the private automobile would be. His firm drafted numerous redevelopment plans for struggling downtowns in the 1960's. Two I can think of off of the top of my head, Buffalo, NY and Portland, ME, resulted in highway-type roads that obliterated park space and neighborhoods alike. Of course, the displaced were usually poor, and, ironically (given Gruen's status) immigrants themselves.

We are now seeing a return to more "traditional" styles of retail and commercial development, especially in higher income bracket zip codes that support the construction of expensive structured (and therefore, unseen) parking. The collapse of the mall and the move to big boxes, which eschewed any attempt to create public space, has just proven to be too much for a significant segment of the market.

In the end, these new developments are as much a reflection of the increasing income stratification that is emblematic of the times. The well-to-do need not fear seeing the Wal-Mart crowd at these places, as those in lower incomes cannot afford such largess.

...because he can. When everybody and their brother/sister/cousin-in-law throws $25 or $50 toward a candidacy, it turns the old ideas of financing on their heads.

This appears to demonstrate that Obama is less a moon-eyed idealist than a real-world pragmatist. I find that comforting, to be honest.

Thanks for competing in the Taken Out of Context Awards!

I specifically stated: "Race is almost certainly a factor, but I doubt that it is nearly as significant as the MSM would like us to believe."

In other words, yes, I AGREE with you that race is totally overblown.

I also made it clear that I was working with a fair amount of supposition in my many parenthetical meanderings. In the end, all I have are media snippets and a few anecdotal experiences.

But you remain interested in remaining angry, and if that's your prerogative, so be it. The terms "arrogant jackass" and "shit the rainbows" are certainly the icing on your cake.

All I tried to do was make it clear that as always, the trend is oversimplification, and we are missing out on whole other issues. You seem more interested in rolling in the mud. Shall I assume that you are not attracted to conciliation and unity and find it to be a bunch of moon-eyed horse pocky? Again, your choice.

Lastly - good for you that you were once engaged to a black man. Since I DID state that race wasn't a big deal, don't expect me to congratulate you on being open-minded, or to give you bonus points for a certain special perspective.