Sat down this morning, like in days of yore, gathered with friends and family around the magic box and watched and listened, sometimes bemused, sometimes confused not to the inspirational and comforting voice of a world leader, not to a comic genius providing lighthearted escapism or witty insight. None of that. I watched and listened to a bit of history, a bit of theater, I watched and listened to some of the financial titans of this country of ours answer questions from the people's representatives in the federal government. The banker shucked, the bankers dove. They sat wide-eyed innocent and confidently presented their cases. At lunch the questioning panel had not had the chance to ask any probing questions. Despite the fact that the little fellow behind a studio desk, looking a little like Beaker, thought of the proceedings as a flogging. The floggings I've been a part of have produced much more gratitude from the precipitants that these hearings have so far. Except, maybe, for the people victimized by these modern day robber barons.