When U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson announced the desperate need for a $700 billion bailout to save our economic system, hopefully reality finally has set in.

The Seattle Times' September 26 headline read:

END OF WAMU; FEDS SEIZE SEATTLE THRIFT IN NATION'S LARGEST BANK FAILURE

To explain what happened the newspaper added "massive withdrawals" while Washington Mutual Bank's shareholders saw their stock plummet to "worthless."