Obama reprises role of Capt. Renault

In that famous scene in Casablanca, Captain Renault (played by Claude Rains) unconvincingly exclaims "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!" Today President Obama acts shocked and outraged at news of Wall Street CEO's big bonuses, lecturing them on responsibility just as his 'Bad Bank' is getting ready to buy up assets at much higher than they will get on the market, all on our dime. As Paul Krugman puts it:

As the Obama administration apparently prepares to launch Hankie Pankie II — buying troubled assets from banks at prices higher than they will fetch on the open market — it occurred to me that an updated version of an old Communist-era joke may be appropriate: under Bush, financial policy consisted of Wall Street types cutting sweet deals, at taxpayer expense, for Wall Street types. Under Obama, it’s precisely the reverse.

Update: Maybe I was too cryptic. The original joke was, “Capitalism is the exploitation of man by man. Socialism is the reverse.”

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.