From the Farber IP list today, frequent poster Lauren Weinstein nails IMHO the zeitgeist:

Term limits have nothing to do with Congress’ action today. LIES do. The American people have been screaming bloody murder at their representatives that they don’t want the Wall Street bailout (now called “rescue” to sound less like the charity it is).

Viewed dispassionately, it’s clear that some sort of bailout (not necessarily the one just voted down) is needed. Quickly.

But we’ve been lied to so much that it’s completely understandable why people feel the way they do. Lied to about the PATRIOT Act. Lied to about Iraq. Lied to by their mortgage lenders and banks, and by untold numbers of economic pundits.

And why don’t people see the urgency? One factor is that the workings of the credit market have been largely invisible to most of us. But there’s another factor.

Turn on the TV. Turn on the radio. You’ll see and hear the same array of commericials for investment plans and cheap home loans as always. It’s as if nothing whatever has changed, like a parallel universe to the crisis atmosphere we see on the news in between the advertising spots.

What’s more, I have yet to see a single spot from any bank or financial institution that says, “We’re suspending our normal ads to tell you that we’re in crisis. And we need your help. And we apologize for our greed and misleading actions up to now.” Fat chance.

Instead, what we see and hear is business as usual. Invest! Buy! Dream the dream!

No wonder that most people feel that they’re being fed yet another lie, and are passing along these feelings to their congressmen.

The financial industry is now reaping the whirlwind of greed. And the rest of us are being sucked into their nightmare.