Quoted today in the Times is an executive courageous enough to speak to the climate of persecution sweeping the land:

"The investment community feels very put-upon. They feel there is no reason why they shouldn't earn $1 million to $200 million a year, and they don't want to be held responsible for the global financial meltdown."

Indeed. Imagine being blamed for a crisis you caused. And we know that 200 million a year isn't what it once was, what with price of Carribean islands and gas for private jets.

Thankfully, there is one intrepid journalist pushing back against the effort to castigate the super-rich. Paul Sullivan of the New York Times.

ALL THE ANGER AGAINST THE RICH MAY BE UNHEALTHY BEATING up on the wealthy seems to be the order of day. I suspected that. But a recent Wealth Matters column touched a particularly raw nerve. It looked at how even people with sizable fortunes were concerned about money in this recession and the impact that could have on the rest of us. Readers rejected the attempt to understand the concerns of the rich. “That’s so stupid that you ought to be slapped for it,” one woman wrote. My favorite began: “Bowties and Reaganomics are for losers. You can cry for the rich all you want, the rest of us will be happy to see them get taxed.” The vehemence in these e-mail messages made me wonder why so many people were furious at those who had more than they did. And why are the rich shouldering the blame for a collective run of bad decision-making? After all, many of the rich got there through hard work. And plenty of not-so-rich people bought homes, cars and electronics they could not afford and then defaulted on the debt, contributing to the crash last year. But in this recession, anger flows one way.

Good point. During a financial crisis caused by political and financial elites, we should blame the victims: poor people, preferably minorities. 'Cause that never happens.

Sullivan astutely points to the danger that this mean talk about rich people poses to the next generation:

[T]he risk is creating a generation that distrusts investing and associates wealth with greed.

Pity the children. But an even more alarming danger is that all this icky populist anger might force politicians to create a more just and humane society. We can't have that.