Columnist Thomas Friedman in the New York Times October 1 explained succinctly what his perception of the credit crunch crisis amounts to:

"I've always believed that America's government was a unique political system -- one designed by geniuses so that it could be run by idiots.  I was wrong.  No system can be smart enough to survive this level of incompetence and recklessness by the people charged to run it.

"This is dangerous.  We have House members, many of whom I suspect can't balance their own checkbooks, rejecting a complex rescue package because some voters, who, I fear also don't understand, swamped them with phone calls.  I appreciate the popular anger against Wall Street, but you can't deal with this crisis this way.

"This is a credit crisis.  It's all about confidence.  What you can't see is how bank A will no longer lend to good company B or mortgage company C.  Because no one is sure the other guy's assets and collateral are worth anything, which is why the government needs to come in and put a floor under them.  Otherwise, the system will be choked of credit, like a body being choked of oxygen and turning blue."