The new Gilded Age

The unfolding saga of Abramoff's corrupt dealings couldn't have been concocted by a gifted fiction writer, yet here we are, with a front row seat watching Beacon Hill prostitute itself for gilt that's really Fool's Gold.

A close-up look at the new Gilded Age

So here we are. 140 years ago the money that bought Congress was from railroads, iron and steel. Now it's from casinos and sweatshops, health insurance companies, and Wall Street. Thanks to the five Republican appointees on the Supreme Court it's now as unregulated as it was then. Honestly, I didn't think of myself as an innocent political virgin but I didn't grasp until seeing this movie just how bad it was. For the time being, it seems, we're sunk.