Wall Street bonuses are an outrage, Michael Brewer

Is anybody else enraged that the government bailout has now netted Wall Street executives even larger bonuses and that someone in our government (like the President) needs to say, "Hello?  Pay us back, you're not getting these bonuses!"

I am furious and I don't understand why this entire country isn't rising up and saying "Enough."  Or: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore."  


Are we so worried about our own problems that we can't collectively think of ways to rise up and express our disgust and our outrage?  Are we in a coma?  I'm ready to go to Washington, or march on Wall Street, or help organize marches all over the entire country.  I'm going to write letters to our senators and to the White House.  I have no ending to this other than we need to wake the fuck up.  


I was just reading another blogger's post just now about the Michael Brewer story.  I didn't know about it, I guess I haven't been keeping up with the news lately.  But it's a horrible story about a fifteen year-old boy in Florida who got in trouble with a group of boys and was doused in rubbing alcohol and set on fire. He has burns over 80% of his body and when the leader of the group was arrested and questions, he laughed about the attack.


Whatever happened to GUILT?  That was one of the subjects of a talk I went to last night by Mike Eigen at the National Psychological Association of Psychoanalysis (NPAP) and it's a very important question.  His book, "Flames of the Unconscious" talks about this and it relates to both of these stories.

A few ideas

I've put myself on a restricted diet of television news and limit my NPR listening time as well, because I find that it overloads my brain and moves me into the territory of major anxiety. But I did want to say that while I was taking my shower just now I had a few ideas for this financial crisis we're in. But now I can only remember one of them. Hopefully as the day progresses, I will have more.

First idea: all the CEO's and top executives of companies that have gone bankrupt or needed bailouts, like AIG, Lehman, etc., should have to return every last dime of this year's bonus to their employees. And EVERY company whose earning are in the red should not allow their top executives to receive ANY bonus money, that money should go to something - severance pay for employees who've lost their job, employees' 401k's, anywhere but their pockets. And that should be mandatory.

And why aren't people more pissed off? I keep remembering that line in Michael Moore's film SICKO about how people in France march against the government whenever they are mad about something and how we in America, feel afraid, or hopeless, or whatever.

Okay, I have to think of more ideas. Throw the bums out! Is my number one idea. They have brought this mess on and they deserve to be fired, tarred, broke and jailed. (And not in a country club jail.)

ANOTHER IDEA: Take the money that Iraq has in our banks and use it for the war. Stop spending another dime of US money. Period. Before we have no money left to use.

Question: Has anyone noticed that Obama seems to have disappeared lately from the news? No covers on magazines, no photos in newspapers, some television coverage, but he seems to be a little bit off the radar... why is that?