Tis a far far better thing...

I watched the 1935 version of Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities a few weeks ago on Turner Classic Movies. The scene that sticks in my mind is at the end when Sydney Carton [Ronald Coleman] walks up the scaffold steps toward the guillotine with the “ Tis a far far better thing…” Y’all probably know the line. That’s not the scene I really wanted to call your attention to. That scene is the one with the kangaroo court were Charles Darnay is sentenced to death for being a member of the aristocracy: men and women howling for blood. Kinda like what we were seeing and hearing yesterday about the AIG “bonuses”. It’s a bit scary. The “bonuses” were contractual. In fact bonus is a misnomer. Compensation is a more accurate word. The AIG employees did what they had agreed to and got paid for their work. In fact when Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and others were drawing up the stimulus originally there was a bar to those bonuses. Guess who had that language removed? That would be Frank and Dodd. You think people would be directing their anger at them but no, the lynch mob wants Liddy and those with AIG who got bonuses. Frank and Dodd are leading the mob instead of running from it. Well the lynch mob voted today to tax the bonuses at 90%. I have questions as to whether that’s even constitutional but whether it was or not wouldn’t have mattered today. The majority want’s blood and by God they’re going to get it. And now that this has happened what everyone else needs to worry about is this. What happens when the mob decides you are getting paid too much by your employers? Are you ready to ascend the scaffold?