What happened during the Bush administration was that the elite (pols, wealthy, neocons, journalists, CEOs, Wall Street) were completely unfettered in their rapacious grasps for money and power. "Greed" was the operative word.

But then, their Iraq War (started with the influence of the neocons and AIPAC) went down the tubes and their beloved stock market went the same way.

I feel they should be made to be punished for both crimes, as would someone who held up a Seven Eleven, and be incarcerated. But Obama, who is a slick pol, sees a bigger payoff for himself, in letting them off.

Right now their best defense is a vibrant offense, using every tool that they have available. And because they control the money, their tools are probably limitless. With Obama's approval they are going to win very easily.

The screwing of the middle-class and the poor will continue.

Glenn, I truly admire your persistence in fighting an unfair battle. "They" have all the resources.

This is change I can't believe in.

I read both of your posts today and again am in total agreement.

I grew up reading the Times, using it to improve my english and attempting to become more cosmopolitan and knowledgeable. The crossword puzzles became a way of life.

I too, have noticed the decline and was amazed that Miller could pull off what she did. Everything just started going downhill along with the writing. When Rosenthal defends his hiring of Kristol, it turns my stomach. Talk about insipid writing and you have Kristol in a class by himself.

I got so mad at the Times I cancelled my subscription to their crosswords puzzles. I'm sure they were shocked.

I googled a picture of Ruth Marcus and she looks exactly how I expected her to look. Just like the Kagans and Wolfowitz and Richard Perle.

"I googled a picture of Ruth Marcus and she looks exactly how I expected her to look. Just like the Kagans and Wolfowitz and Richard Perle."

I probably looked at them all subjectively. Perhaps it was the lighting. The heftiness of it all.

O/T

I switched to a Mac 2 years ago. I was having problems with viruses and also extraordinary problems with anti-virus software. The transition has been a pleasure. Learning the new operating system was extremely easy. Viruses are no longer a consideration though I still use anti-virus software.

The only problem is that there is software that is only written for the PC, but you can use BootCamp. I didn't want to do that because I wanted to learn Numbers and Pages and iWeb and iPhoto.

I initially used FireFox and only rarely used Safari. Now I am a big fan of Safari and feel I get much better response time with it.

My biggest concern in moving to the Mac was the fact that I had spent most of my adult life, if not all of it, using IBM and Microsoft hardware and software. I spent many hours debating the pros and cons of both sides.

It was more an emotional decision than an intellectual one. Yet, the viruses at the time were killing me and the anti-virus firms, mostly MacaFee was driving me crazy. Microsoft was blaming MacaFee and vice versa.

Now I am as content as can be and can only vaguely recall all the grief I went through.

That was about the most disgusting, repulsive interview I have ever seen.

Talk about bering a "butt boy!" I have never seen any like this extraordinary interview.

He makes Ruth Marcus look reasonable, which she isn't.

And then I watched Tucker Carlson talking about Stewart.

I am definitely going crazy!

"In a letter to congressmen, Timothy Geithner said $165m (£116m) would be taken from $30bn the firm is due to get as part of its government bail-out."

Gee, and I thought Obama was going to do something drastic like keep the bonuses from going to the people who created the tragedy.

What a relief! Ruth Marcus will be so, so happy. The elites win again.

Your reasoning is wonderful. Right up there with BernBart. Truly extraordinary and remarkable.

But blaming Carter alone, without including Capote, Truman and Clinton, is despicably careless of you.

Shame, shame, shame!

I don't really believe I am saying this but maybe we would have been better off with the repubs at the helm.

The pundits are all saying that the furor over the bonuses are much ado about nothing.

I am afraid that things are going to get much worse and Treasury doesn't seem to have a game plan. They are mostly concerned with the salaries of the failed Wall Street execs. Very sad, indeed!