Our National Bailout Slam

If you're one of those fortunate workers who still enjoys company-supplied Internet access—or, if you've been laid off and just have lots of time on your hands—you've no doubt noticed the wave of bailout-inspired humor that's flooded blogs, YouTube, and Facebook pages. Much of it is, sad to say, subprime. But there are some gems out there (precious as a zero-percent T-Bill). We've thoughtfully collected some of the best.

First, the professionals. And by that I mean, of course, The Onion. For production values alone, it's hard to beat the video "Should the Government Stop Dumping Money into a Giant Hole?" Here the level of debate is actually higher than what you'll get on typical network TV coverage of the financial crisis. Then there's my personal favorite, from Jon Methven at the McSweeney's site, "The Economic Crisis Hits the Markson Family Monopoly Board." We may all be living on Baltic Avenue when this is over.

Alright, let's move on to the poetry. It's tough fitting Motown into meter, but the auto companies' pleadings have summoned up much car-crash imagery. Let's give it up for Kaneix, who bolted together "Small is Suddenly Beautiful."And Vanessa Giacoppo, who Twittered over this haiku (even the auto poetry is going Japanese!):