AIG

Why rescue banks but not me? Great question for all those socialists over in the Treasury Dept. I wonder what this guy does in his castle on that thunderstruck mountain?

If anybody knows how much worse the meltdown of 2008 is likely to get, it's Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. But he's not telling.

Paulson held a press conference in the midst of momentous developments involving Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Merrill Lynch to say everything would be OK. In a few years. If the market cooperates. And the government doesn't run out of money. And politicians don't make things worse. And oh, by the way, don't blame me.

In fact, if you read Paulson's words closely, he wasn't that reassuring at all. Here's what Paulson said, along with some guesses about what he might have said if the global financial markets weren't scrutinizing every syllable:

I let you go read the rest, it's well worth it.  My emphasis.