“You give me what I want — or they DIE.” So speaks the hostage-holding terrorist, using the lives of innocents as a bargaining chip.

Apparently, the tactics of this lowest form of life have become accepted procedure in the halls of big business — specifically, big banking. It seems that the bailout plan may fail because CEOs and corporate boards won’t accept Uncle Sam’s aid. Why would they refuse it? Why, because the one part of this plan with real teeth — the limit on executive compensation and moratorium on golden parachutes — is offensive to their greedy sensibilities.

This is not going to be a long entry, because there really isn’t much to say about it. But let’s just think, very briefly (it doesn’t require more thought than this), about what they are saying. These individuals who are reportedly considering this — executives in banks that are on the verge of insolvency — are saying, in effect, that they will take down not just their companies, not just their customers, not even just the United States economy, but the world economy, because of their own personal greed.

Give them what they want or the world economy dies, in other words.

For the record, I — unlike many in the left-leaning blogs who knee-jerked and flip-flopped against the idea of crisis as soon as anyone associated with George W. Bush admitted that there was a crisis — do believe that the crisis is real, and do believe that is more serious than the S&L crisis of the 80s or the energy-driven crisis of the 70s. We truly are looking at something akin only to that of the late 20s/early 30s. And if this is indeed true, then that really tells you all you need to know about these pigs who are willing to commit economic terrorism — these suicide bomber CEOs who will take down innocents along with themselves because they didn’t get what they wanted.

(Needless to say, I am simply outraged about this. I very rarely draw parallels between terrorism and any other activity, because I think it’s generally very offensive and it reminds me too much of Rove-based campaigns that invoke terrorism. The fact that I am using such expressions tells you something.)

No wonder they supported the Paulson notion of $700 billion in taxpayer money — OUR money — with no strings attached. Apparently, these vermin (I won’t call them “fat cats,” as this is offensive to my 13-pounder Sox) intended to make out like bandits with it, rather than do anything at all to help their troubled companies.

No wonder trickle-down voodoo economics was an abysmal, miserable failure at stimulating the economy, if THAT is the caliber of the people who were supposed to do the trickling.

No wonder deregulation is a defeated, laughable economic philosophy now. If this is the mentality of the “winners,” then that is possibly the best case for aggressive regulation that could be made. They did my work for me.