Meanwhile, the consequences of 9/15 continued to spread outward like a viral infection. I followed its progress in the  papers and on TV. Remedies were coming fast and furious, each at extraordinary price tags. Their effectiveness could not be surmised - mostly they felt like prayers.

That's ok - we need a prayer. It had been a bad month to be an uncritical believer in American-style capitalism. Our faith had been rocked to the core, and our avarice exposed in the process. The chickens began to land as the finger-pointing began in earnest. But the truth is we're all to blame.

We did this to ourselves.