Ben Stein is such a juicy target to beat up when he’s wrong.  Which is frequently.  I’m shocked I’ve done it only once before.  Beating him up is like beating up Kudlow, Cavuto, — heck, all of the Team Bush apologists who wouldn’t recognize genuine free-market capitalism if it bit them in the ass — all at once.

Energy guru Dave Gonigam says speculators were wrongly used as a scapegoat for soaring crude oil prices in the first half of the year. But he thinks they are playing a big role in the current slump, as hedge funds liquidate their commodity assets rapidly. Dave says the supply and demand fundamentals of oil are unchanged. That is why he is still bullish crude in the long term.

It is in exactly times like these that Washingtion likes to pass under-the-radar legislation. Dave Gonigam says some ideas floated at a Congressional hearing on 401(k) and pension plans should sound alarm bells among investors.

At 2pm New York time,the settlement auction for $400 billion of credit default swaps connected to bonds issued by Lehman Bros (NYSE:LEH) is due. This opaque derivatives market is a mystery to most investors. Dave Gonigam says the revelation of major losses is the last thing the market needs right now.

Desidoory Saloon blogger Dave Gonigam says the modified bailout before the Senate tonight is worse than the version Congress shot down on Monday. And he says the raising the limit for bank deposit coverage included in the bill is baffling when you consider that the FDIC currently only insures 1% of total deposits. It’s no wonder demand for gold bullion is reaching unprecedented levels…

1. I’m not altogether sure this vote was a repudiation of the moneyed classes in this country. But what is it other than a repudiation of President Bush by 2/3 of his own party and Speaker Pelosi by 2/5 of her own party — and a wider repudiation of the White House, the Congressional leadership of both parties, and both major-party presidential candidates?

Let me guess… The overriding theme among the pundit class today will be “gridlock” in Washington: With the bailout talks broken down for the moment and a presidential debate in jeopardy, why can’t our leaders “get things done” at a time of epic crisis?I’m pretty sure about all this because the overwhelming consensus among the pundit class is that a bailout is absolutely necessary — after all, Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke say so. Once upon a time, journalists felt their job was to hold the powerful to account. Now they augment the authority of the powerful, lest they get uninvited to the cocktail parties the powerful attend.

A few years ago, military planners got all excited over a new kind of fuel-air explosive known as MOAB — the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, or informally, the Mother of All Bombs.

I know three months remain in 2008 and a lot more market turmoil is ahead of us, but at the risk of jumping the gun I’d like to offer my nominees for Chumps of the Year.

Dave Gonigam says the Fed’s rescue of AIG (NYSE:AIG) is just the tip of the iceberg. “The 80% stake that Uncle Sam is taking in AIG is a whole lot of garbage the Fed might have to print money to cover – $85 billion. But it’s pocket change compared to the potential closure of 1000 banks (Wilbur Ross’s estimate) or 4500 banks (Ken Lewis).