I'll miss newspapers when they're gone, and accounts like this one from today's NYTimes on the budget summit fiasco are one reason:

WASHINGTON The day began with an agreement that Washington hoped would end the financial crisis that has gripped the nation. It dissolved into a verbal brawl in the Cabinet Room of the White House, urgent warnings from the president and pleas from a Treasury secretary who knelt before the House speaker and appealed for her support.If money isnt loosened up, this sucker could go down, President Bush declared Thursday as he watched the $700 billion bailout package fall apart before his eyes, according to one person in the room.It was an implosion that spilled out from behind closed doors into public view in a way rarely seen in Washington.

Meanwhile, will McCain show for tonight's debate? And I read a few days ago that Hank Paulson is an abstemiousChristian Scientist. Or not?

In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to blow it up by withdrawing her partys support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.I didnt know you were Catholic, Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulsons kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange.

No particular point, except to note the remarkable drama of these days. Anything I post would be out of date in no time, so feel free to drop in whatever observations you like. Perhaps we'll open a thread if there is a debate tonight.

David Gibson is the director of Fordham’s Center on Religion & Culture.

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