The one hopeful sign I see is that there appears to be a bi-paritsan consensus in both the House and Senate that this has to be dealt with on the basis of the facts and has to be done thoughtfully.  There seems to be agreement that further enrichment of Wall Street folks is to be avoided.  Cheney and Bolton can't even round up many Republicans to support their stampede approach to pushing Paulson's plan through.

It is the first time I recall seeing such a degree of agreement in Congress since Watergate.  The reason: the election looms and the voters are furious.  This is no less true in Republican states and districts than in Democratic states and districts.

It may or may not be possible to save the financial system, including the Fed, as currently constituted, and we are likely in the first phases of a financial collapse as bad as 1929-1932, but at least we may be able to preserve and even improve the Constitution and  Government of the USA.

I have been hammering away in faxes to Senators and Representatives from California to New England that, among other things, we need campaign finance reform.  It is not possible to properly regulate those to whom you are beholden, except in times of extreme crisis.  That is what got us into this mess.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."