For days now, the drama queens that pass for news networks have become Hudson river web-cams. Did those birds come from the direction of Wall Street before they went into the engines?

Not to ruin the feel-good fest, but here’s what’s really going on today:

Bank of America Corp took $20 billion in government aid, to make up for the bad assets it got when purchasing Lyman Brothers.

Circuit City is closing all it’s stores, putting 36,000 people out of work.

Consumer prices and industrial production tumbled in the U.S. in a record slide since 1954.

2.6 million cubic yards of coal ash sludge broke through a dike and covered 400 acres up to six feet deep.

Bernie Madoff, the dude that stole 50 Billion dollars, is only worth 10 Million.

Hertz car rentals is cutting 4,000 jobs, (13% of it’s workforce).

California will not pay state tax refunds for individuals and business that overpaid 2008 taxes, because the state is broke.

Pfizer Inc, the world’s largest drugmaker, plans to lay off as many as 2,400 people.

General Electric Co.’s finance arm may cut 7,500 to 11,000 jobs, or at least 10 percent of its workforce.

It seems that Joe the Plumber’s wishes for old-school propaganda movies to offer some mass feel-good escapism came true.