WaMu Fails At Everything

The Seattle-based Washington Mutual has become the largest bank in U.S. history to join the "FAIL" category due to bunk mortgages. From CNN:

JPMorgan Chase acquired the banking assets of Washington Mutual late Thursday after the troubled thrift was seized by federal regulators, marking the biggest bank failure in the nation's history and the latest stunning twist in the ongoing credit crisis.

Under the deal, JPMorgan Chase will acquire all the banking operations of WaMu, including $307 billion in assets and $188 billion in deposits.

I guess the "whoo-hoo" ad campaign to inspire consumer confidence didn't work out so well. No need to bring your shotgun to make a run on the bank tomorrow, because JP Morgan assures it will be a "normal transition" for customers. Gulp. In an unrelated note, Bob Barr has an extensive piece on how we got into this fuckin mess. It seems as though he's the only one that sees that the Wall St. emperor wears no clothes and compares the Treasury Department's role in this crisis as being similar to the dictatorship in North Korea. A strong metaphor, but it seems to be more true by the day.