Obama disappoints - Diane Francis

The mood is turning decidedly ugly in the United States as the public becomes more and more horrified at bailout efforts by President Barack Obama and his team. The latest outrage involves the unceremonious axing of the head of General Motors, without handing out pink slips to the Wall Street and other financial sector incompetents who ruined the global economy.

Wagoner's departure is a cynical exercise in optics. It's reminiscent to the ancient practice of primitives who decapitated vanquished generals in front of their defeated troops. The idea was to scare the wits out of everyone and to appear to be willing to punish the privileged while saving the underprivileged.