Another Window into the Beast’s Belly

I know I say this often, and most of you who read my stuff here, probably also scan the rest of the site for interesting news and analysis. But if you haven’t yet, you absolutely must read Rich Toscano’s latest on the sickness ailing our financial system and the efforts to fix it.

Few people are able to write about such complex topics so fluidly and in such an ingestible way. We made a decision long ago that we wouldn’t cover an issue unless 1) we thought we could do it better than anyone else; or, 2) no one else was covering it. This almost necessarily meant that we would only cover local issues. Who are we to pretend our reporting or analysis of, say, the vice presidential debate tonight is worth more than the 3,000 other journalists who have reportedly requested credentials to cover that event?

So, ordinarily, we wouldn’t make much room for discussions about the national economy and the bailout discussions in Congress — except maybe to query our local representatives and candidates.

But Toscano has proven skillful enough to not only handle the local economy and jobs and housing issues, but to put perspective on this crucial national issue like no one else can.

Take a minute to digest it. It really is a pleasure to host his commentary.

— SCOTT LEWIS