Sometimes you have to hit bottom before you can realize how far you’ve fallen.  In the eyes of former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, the United States is pretty close to bottom.  John Shaw sketches a fresh portrait of the veteran analyst in the monthly Washington Diplomat.  Brzezinski notes that America is "neither as liked as before, nor as feared as before, nor as respected as before."  To climb up out of the rut we’re in, according to Brzezinski, will require a president who can explain to the American people just how bad things are.  Brzezinski calls this a "totally new era in world history," one that brings us "new global problems . . . on an ominous scale — environment, climate, starvation, inequality — all in the context of a stirred-up and politically awakened mankind that craves dignity."  He just said a  mouthful.  Let’s hope it’s one our next president is capable of saying for himself. -NH

The Times is right on track today in their editorial for more Amtrak funding. A pending bill would double the public-private rail service’s federal funding from its current $1.2 billion. But the bill is being held up by Republicans who want to use public money to build a high-speed, private rail service between New York City and Washington, D.C. Apparently this will make the bill veto-proof.

The Times rightly calls using scarce public transit funds on a private rail service idiotic. What’s lacking in the editorial, though, are the necessary exclamation points and bursts of profanity to convey how mind-blowingly moronic the private-train plan is. People wishing to commute from Washington to New York already have about 9,000 options — two of which are from Amtrak, including (get ready) a premium, high-speed train. Meanwhile with gas prices soaring and the carbon-filled air warming, entire swaths of the country have little choice but to rely on cars for their long-distance travel.

On the other hand, with the Republican plan, lawmakers wishing to catch a broadway show or talk in person to a Wall Street lawyer may have a bit of convenience added to their lives.-MB

This morning’s papers are dominated by the government’s bailout of mortgage behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The New York Times’ Peter S. Goodman’s does a big-picture analysis: U.S. political leaders view their country as the beacon of free-market capitalism, but then again, so many of American’s biggest financial transactions are through the government-subsidized Fannie and Freddie.

In fact, since the mortgage crisis hit last year, about 2/3 of all new residential mortgages are from Fannie and Freddie. And most college loans are from the companies as well since commercial banks no longer deem these loans profitable.

Left unanswered is the motivation behind both major political parties entrusting so much of their exalted free market to these financiers on training wheels. Goodman suggests it may be due to the Bush administration’s desire to encourage minority home ownership. There is probably more at play than that.-MB

The New York Times’ Stephen Labaton reports on the big news of the weekend– Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announcing a potential $300 billion bailout for mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The stock of both companies, which are partly owned by the federal government, fell sharply last week, and has generally been shaky at best during the foreclosure crisis. Also, the Federal Reserve announced it was extending a line of credit to the mortgage giants.

Democrats who lead Congress’s finance committees expressed approval of the administration’s plans. Indeed, the anxiety of Fannie and Freddie going under may transcend partisan lines– the company is invested in nearly half the nation’s mortgages, an estimated $5 trillion in loans.-MB