I haven't seen the old National Lampoon cover resurrected in the bailout discussion: "If you don't buy this magazine, we'll kill this dog." (Google it)
Unfortunately, there is some truth here. The marginal businesses in your neighborhood who depend on short-term credit lines to meet payroll are among the first getting squeezed here. They will be "shot" if this bailout fails. The big guys WILL be protected. No one can do much about that.
Also, don't fall for the "mark to market" scam. "Mark to market" accounting, when things were booming, was how Enron was able to take fictional profits for many years.
I don't often agree with David Brooks, but this is what he said today:
We’re living in an age when a vast excess of capital sloshes around the world fueling cycles of bubble and bust. When the capital floods into a sector or economy, it washes away sober business practices, and habits of discipline and self-denial. Then the money managers panic and it sloshes out, punishing the just and unjust alike.