Today's riddle

Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld testified today before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, enduring the first lashes of a public flogging.

Mr. Fuld and his associates are being "investigated" for (allegedly) misleading the public about the condition of the company, inflating executive compensation and committing outright criminal fraud. Mr. Fuld himself walked away from Lehman, which filed for bankruptcy last month, with almost $500 million.

Committee Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman said, "Mr. Fuld takes no responsibility for the collapse of Lehman," calling the investment bank "a company in which there was no accountability for failure."

"It seems like the system worked for you but it didn't seem to work for the rest of the country," said Rep. Waxman.

The irony here is inescapable.

Greedy Wall Street execs may deserve to be castigated, even indicted -- but self-righteous lawmakers, along with this President and his administration, likewise ought to be held accountable for gross mismanagement of the enterprise we call the United States of America.

The body of evidence includes crippling deficits and out-of-control spending. For personal gain and political advantage, our elected representatives have misappropriated funds and misrepresented the state of The Union. They've continued to dismantle the free market. Worst of all, they assault our Constitution and dilute our very independence.

The riddle is as obvious as the answer: What makes our government officials any different from the corporate barons they're investigating?