Bear Market Blagojevich

I've sometimes thought of liquidation that occurs during bear markets as akin to those old fables about the over-ambitious offering up their eternal souls for temporal glories.  I'm no liquidationist.  But to see so many of the once-mighty come to ruin as an almost direct result of their activities when times were good does make it easy to root for the wrecking ball.

The Blagojevich scandal is a perfect minor distraction, an ideal though modest brick in the wall of worry that we will likely ascend over the next few weeks or even months.  Sure, it's possible that the President-elect, who increasingly represents the aspirations of pro- and anti-Obama Americans alike, will turn out to be just another corrupt politician.  After all, anything can happen.  But I'd argue that the Blagojevich scandal - not unlike the current opposition effort being led by GOP senators against the labor movement automaker bridge loan plan - will serve as little more than the kind of distraction we often see as sentiments drag themselves up off the canvas only to realize that it's already the fifth round and they are ahead on every judges' scorecard, after all.