Senator Carl Levin Outrageously Outraged Over Emails

This is Kabuki theater at its' finest. If someone mentions Coke cans we're right back to the days of theatre d'absurde we remember from the Clarence Thomas hearings. Alas, no one on the Investigations Committee could dredge up a story quite as provocative as the Coke can folklore to facilitate their public annihilation of Goldman Sachs. Instead we have an email containing a damning description of a Goldman mortgage-backed security named "Timberwolf." Timberwolf, Senator Levin wants us to know, was described as a "sh*tty deal" in the email." How does he make this point, he repeats the phrase 11 times in every variation of a question he can think of.

None of this proves anything criminal took place but it sure does make for fine political theater.  The left-wing economic guru, Paul Krugman concedes there is nothing to see in the emails.  We should instead be focused on the emails of the rating agencies that gave AAA ratings to these "sh*tty deals."    Don't hold your breath waiting for the rating agencies to be hauled before the Investigations Committee.  The bill doesn't bother to address the agencies and their role in the economic collapse.   It might just be a bit awkward to bring them in for a beating.  Of course, the rating agencies don't have quite the same effect when it comes to ginning up that populist pitchfork outrage either.   That leaves Goldman Sachs to take the fall for the failures of many different agencies *and* the government that created the policies that set the train wreck in motion.

How's that investment in the Obama administration working out for you Goldman Sachs?