I never thought I would see the day when AIG was in such direfinancial trouble it would beg Uncle Sam for a federal bailout.Then again, I never thought I would see the day when its iconicleader, Hank Greenberg, would be pushed out the door in the wake ofa balance sheet scandal.

Thus far, AIG has survived the realization of both "Doomsday"scenarios, thanks most recently to a massive Federal Reserveloan.

What happens now? Assets will be sold to repay the loan. Willenough cash be generated to get the job done in what in effect willbe a fire sale? Will AIG be able to reassure risk managers whosecommercial insurance policies with the carrier are up for renewalon Jan. 1? Stay tuned!

For the moment, AIG is the latest beneficiary of the "It's toobig to fail" mantra. Of course, I am glad AIG was not allowed tocollapse into bankruptcy, which would have sent shock waves throughan already weakened economy, costing more people their jobs andbattering the stock portfolios of average Americans even worse thanthe hammering they are taking now.

But it does make you wonder about the "hands-off" credo of thosewho oppose government regulation, arguing that the free market willalways do what's best for all--if it is just left alone. Thosewho've been slapped silly by the market's "invisible hand" mightbeg to differ.

Whatever happened to the "Ownership Society" and culture of"personal responsibility" touted by Republican leaders? It seemsthat for corporate entities in big enough trouble, socialism--notcapitalism--ultimately rules the day.

When I expressed dismay in my blog at the very idea an industrybehemoth like AIG could be in this much trouble, "Chris M." postedthe following question: "Was the Titanic too big to sink?"

Obviously not, but luckily for AIG, once this giant steamer hitthe subprime iceberg, there was a rescue vessel--the FederalReserve--ready, willing and able to keep the sinking shipafloat.

Those who are losing their houses and jobs in thisrecession--while many more endure the plummeting value of theirhomes and 401k plans--are not so lucky. AIG is secure--for themoment--but the rest of us are clearly on our own.

Thus, while federal and state regulators scrambled franticallylast week to keep AIG from collapsing into bankruptcy, I couldn'thelp but wonder whether there would be any accountability for therisky investments and underwriting decisions that put theindustry's biggest player--and so many who did business with themega-carrier--into this precarious position in the first place.

Another regular respondent to my blog, "Mikk," suggested thatMr. Greenberg's loss of billions in wealth as his AIG stock plungedto penny status was accountability of a sort. But I am moreconcerned right now about the front end--making sure someonerepresenting the public is watching the store to make sure nothinglike this happens again.

I'm not optimistic we won't see more such financial sectormeltdowns as history repeats itself. The Onion, a weekly"newspaper" for which every day is April Fool's, had me in stitcheswith its recent story: "Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New BubbleTo Invest In," with one suggestion being "illegal alienfutures."

The only problem is, as with all good humor, this joke rang tootrue, especially after seeing how the colossal failures in judgmentby major players like AIG are destroying my retirementaccounts.