This is the craziest clip I've seen in some time:
David Sirota describes it nicely: "[CNBC]'s correspondent, Rick Santelli, is literally on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange surrounded by multimillionaire traders railing on the Obama administration for trying to help struggling homeowners, and berating people who are getting foreclosed on as 'losers.'" Santelli sells himself as a sort of financial sector Howard Beale: He's mad as hell, and he's not going to take it anymore. The problem is he's on the trading floor of a stock exchange surrounded by the very masters of the universe who started this mess. It's a strange setting for a populist rant; as if Beale had been mad as hell at anchors who insisted on reporting important, rather than ratings-driven, stories, and had delivered his impassioned speech surrounded by whooping network executives. But watching the traders hoot and cheer as Santelli calls for the streets to run green with the equity of the working class offers offers nice insight into the psychology of the crisis. These traders feel betrayed. They didn't default on their homes! They trusted Americans to be responsible and they were burned for it. Yet they endure the brickbats and jeers while the irresponsible homeowners who triggered the crisis are turned into objects of sympathy. It's unfair. Update: One more thought: It's interesting commentary on who we cover and listen to that the most high profile articulation of neo-populist outrage came from the trading floor rather than the Midwest. The powerful aren't the only ones who are angry. But they find it far easier to be heard.
