“The marriage of American capitalism and democracy has always been a Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee affair — stormy and erratic since its hasty wedding. But during the debate over a Wall Street bailout this week, we watched that matrimonial knot unwind into a tangled tale of terror. As a financial crisis became a political panic, capitalism murdered democracy (ironically, while pursuing a vaguely socialist bailout). Only, unlike a typical horror story, the dead body wasn’t hidden, it was dumped in the nation’s public square. [editor’s note: As has been noted all too often in these spaces, the worship of “demoncrazy” is every bit as ludicrous and suicidal as the worship of “Kapitalisme” — neither should ever be seen as an end in itself, but merely (very imperfect) means to the true ends: human liberty, personal sovereignty and free markets & minds - SAT] (10/03/08)