Bailout Rocky Horror Shows

The 1930s are back today, featuring remakes of the scary movies that entranced Americans during the Great Depression.

With the political landscape looking a mob scene from "Frankenstein," Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post asks, "Could we put down the pitchforks for just a moment and have a reasonable discussion about the bonuses at American International Group?"

At another screen of the nail-biters' multiplex, Maureen Dowd is egging on the villagers by invoking "Dracula": "What President Obama should have said to the blood-sucking bums at A.I.G., many of them foreigners who were working at the louche London unit, was quite simple: 'We stopped the checks. They’re immoral. If you want Americans’ hard-earned cash as a reward for burning up their jobs, homes and savings, sue me.'"

Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, Barney Frank is directing a remake of "The Invisible Man," demanding that AIG name names so his colleagues won't be flailing at thin air as they chase the bonus takers with Sen. Charles Grassley, who seems to have wandered in from some Japanese slasher flick, demanding that they quit or commit hari kari.

With taxpayers in dire need of distraction from the real world and the President on a trip to the West Coast, ticket sales should be brisk.