Matt Yglesias has your must-read pithy observation about conservatives' newfound disdain for "banana republics," with Steve Benen, Josh Marshall, Glenn Greenwald, and Steve Benen again filling in the gaps.

Olbermann and Maddow on MSNBC are reporting that the Asian markets are tanking in response to the failure of the bailout. The Nikkei is already down 5%, and the Australian stock market dropped 4% in the first fifteen minutes of trading.

I had my quarrels with him during the primaries, but at a moment like this I find Paul Krugman really indispensable. Fun, too; here he is on today's political failures:

So what we now have is non-functional government in the face of a major crisis, because Congress includes a quorum of crazies and nobody trusts the White House an inch.

As a friend said last night, we’ve become a banana republic with nukes.