The last year of coverage on CNBC has featured relentless cheerleading. With every downward thrust of the market, we find a CNBC reporter or anchor talking about the wonderful values being created in the wake of volatility. Well, the bargains kept coming. When they weren't encouraging you to snap up wonderful banks at fire sale prices, they were kvetching about the need for a rate cut or anything that might stave off the impending recession. I turned especially negative on the network in the last month, when they could offer nothing but parroting the breast-beating and wailing of their business friends and sources. The media is supposed to be in impartial conduit, not an unofficial mouthpiece. Were you watching the day Lehman went down? It was funereal. Now that they are past the depression phase of grieving, they have moved on to anger.
The vitriol at Congress for not passing the bailout almost comes through the screen. The Democrats could've passed this bill by themselves, but 90 of them voted against it. Americans overwhelmingly hate this deal. Do we need the $700 billion bailout? Yes. Will we get a deal done? Yes. My problem with CNBC is that they have led the charge in panic-mongering and rapping the knuckles of Main Street Americans for opposing the deal. They are doing Wall Street's light work.
Wall Street is like a panhandler who wants to dictate to you how much you should give him and in what denominations. They're going to get their money. They should try to at least appear grateful.
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