calling the bomb squad

Yesterday I mocked our US Senators for, among other things, suggesting that AIG executives might adopt the old Japanese custom of ritual suicide, to atone for their sins against the American public. The notion seems to be catching on, though in the president's version it's the insurers and bankers themselves who are bent on self-destruction, and we who must talk them out of it:

"Here's the problem," Mr. Obama said, "It's almost like they've got -- they've got a bomb strapped to them and they've got their hand on the trigger. You don't want them to blow up. But you've got to kind of talk them, ease that finger off the trigger."

Again, I assure you: I am not making this stuff up. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford