Tragedy or Farce?

It couldn’t be any wackier if Paddy Chayefsky and Joseph Heller had collaborated on the script and Stanley Kubrick and Robert Altman had done the directing.

Let’s review.

Those wild and crazy folks who are in charge of our federal government in Washington, DC continue to squander what little respect they have by appearing to be totally incapable of serious, mature behavior.

The American economy has been the envy of the rest of the world because of one thing; its stability. Now the bedrock of the world’s financial infrastructure is in a state of collapse and those fine peeps responsible for righting this ship appear to be auditioning for a Three Stooges short.

Who’s to blame? Where to start?

Certainly evildoer #1 has to be President George Bush.

His administration started a misguided and unnecessary war by manipulating Congress, the public and the world community. Thousands upon thousands of Americans and countless others have died or been maimed as a result and no evaluation of the current lame duck can avoid pointing that out.

But let’s focus on the financial crisis. It is obvious that the Bush policies promoting deregulation and lax enforcement gave a green light to the lending practices that got us in our current situation.

Bush may admire the presidency of Ronald “Mr. Teflon” Reagan but during this economic crisis he has appeared to be more deserving of the title Mr. Flypaper.

And John McCain seems to think he can earn votes by competing with the President for Least Reassuring Performance of the Week.

Sen. McCain continues to make light of his “Country First” slogan with his grandstanding behavior that appears to have blown up an apparent agreement on legislation to rescue the failing financial institutions.

A cynical observer might conclude that McCain is so desperate to alter the perception that he is clueless on economic issues that he believes he must appear to be personally responsible for the bailout.

Talk about a Messiah Complex!

This prosposed legislation is so complicated that any delay may be a good thing if it gives members of Congress the opportunity to actually read and think about what they are voting on.

But the world’s financial experts feel that the longer this takes, the worse things will be.

The image of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulsen getting on his knees to plead with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn’t helping with that confidence thing.

Who knows how this will end? Who knows if the debate will go on tonight?

My advice? Rent Duck Soup or A Night at the Opera by the Marx Brothers and have a few laughs.

But stay away from The Three Stooges. They behave too much like our political leaders to be a diversion.