There was a vote for financial reform today, which predictably was filibustered. Predictably, every Republican voted against cloture. Predictably, Ben Nelson did a Ben-Nelson-type thing. Predictably, Obama talked about being disappointed. The entire thing was so predictable that I wouldn’t be surprised if news organizations simply published a speculative draft they’d written last week.

Besides how predictable it was,  I think it’s important to acknowledge how funny it is that they are only voting on financial reform in mid-2010. The economy crashed in late 2008. It’s been over a year. It’s only now that Congress is trying to pass some type of reform. Nothing terribly radical. And even that fails.

After the financial system was crippled, it only took the American government one and a half years to fail at even getting to a vote.

Everything about this is great.

I’ll avoid blaming the Obama administration (even though I like blaming them for every ill in the world up to and including the weather), though it really does highlight why some have soured on his administration. Any legislation they propose starts disappointingly (so you get one disappointment), then doesn’t even pass (you get your second disappointment there), and then finally passes in an even more disappointing form (third disappointment). By the time the bill passes, you aren’t sure if you’ve just witnessed a political victory, or if you’ve stared at some sort of Lovecraftian horror right in the eye and realized life itself is pointless.