I’m not talking about the CIA-brand of intelligence. I’m talking about the Barack Obama brand of intelligence, a gift that won him scholarships to America’s top colleges, that brought him to the classroom as a professor, that left his Democratic presidential hopefuls in the dust, and last Wednesday night left John McCain clenching his jaws in palpable anger, stalking off the stage shortly after the debate’s end, while Obama lingered with his wife, talking, joking, posing for pictures, signing autographs with members of the audience.

The toxic mortgage-debt paper is only a cover. The real story under the covers of the history book written since the Great Depression is about the investment bankers and their allies who have returned with a vengeance to totally bankrupt America and its financial system with their greed, which created the present subprime debt and recently raised the national debt ceiling to $11 trillion and change.

With the announcement of Citigroup’s purchase of the Wachovia Corporation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation told us Monday morning of the latest bank to get whacked by the predatory mortgage market, as in what goes around comes around. But not to worry, folks, Citigroup will pay a buck a share, about $2.2 billion, in a brand new deal. How’s that for a buy?

Step right up, folks! It’s the biggest welfare check in history, a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street and friends, arrived at in just four days. But wait a minute. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) points out in his Media Advisory that the real cost of bailouts to American taxpayers when you factor in all recent costs is actually $1.7 trillion, not just the $700 billion about to be added.

Not since the race to go to an illegal preemptive war in Iraq have I seen President Bush pull out all the fear stops like he did Wednesday night, in an attempt to hard-sell the bailout of $700 billion dollars for his Wall Street friends and their banker, mortgage companies, and hedge fund buddies.

For all of you who read Financial terrorism: US taxpayers bail out Wall Street Criminals, welcome to Financial terrorism II, the sequel, soon to be playing at commercial banks and investment banks in your neighborhood. First of all, how could I fail to mention in FT 1 that to pay for this $700-800 billion-plus bailout, Treasury Secretary Paulson heartily recommended raising the national debt limit from $8.965 trillion to $11.3 trillion, see the second paragraph of this New York Times story.

In the weeks surrounding the anniversary of 9/11, the most terrifying attack on America’s soil, another attack on America’s citizenry is taking place: the systematic looting of the US Treasury to bail out American financial institutions.

On Thursday, 9/11/08, WeAreChange.org and the ncy911 Ballot Initiative group joined forces at Ground Zero. Read all about them at the above links. I joined them about 11:30 a.m. for the march and speeches that would begin around noon. The young WeAreChange leader Luke Rudkowski (a force unto himself) and the indefatigable Ballot Initiative leader Les Jamieson were there to kick off events.

You think I’m crazy? It was over years ago? But after all, who is competing for the oil to heat our houses, run our cars, turn the wheels of industry and trucks to deliver food? Why it’s Russia and China, both reconstituted post Cold War One to meet us on the present drawing board for Cold War Two, which will be very cold if they keep getting Iran and other OPEC countries to supply them, outbidding us in the oil marketplace, to power the largest combined population in the world

Tuesday Congress showed some bipartisan backbone, once more overriding George Bush’s veto of a bill to prevent cutting doctors’ Medicare fees by 10 percent, which would seriously impact on the health care of millions of beneficiaries. Phyician fee cuts would also inspire Medicare insurance HMOs to follow suit and reduce co-pay coverage.