Saturday, Ken Lewis was standing near an exit of the humongous Mega-Teeter store in Morrocroft, as I was pushing my cart toward him. My first thought, the very first thing, was, “I want to smack his smug face.” First thought, best thought? Umm, no. Not that Lewis, who looks as haughty live as he does in newscasts, doesn’t deserve to have his face slapped, butt kicked, body tarred and feathered, etc., etc. by each and every citizen of Charlotte. (I’m speaking metaphorically here, dear readers, don’t do anything foolish.) Fortunately, my inner grown-up convinced me that Christmas season isn’t the right time for such thoughts – and that spending Christmas in jail would be a terrible idea — so I walked by one of the architects of the nation’s current economic disaster without a word.

Luckily, today, President Obama didn’t have such reservations. He met with top bankers at the White House earlier today and told them he expected them to increase lending, pronto. He also told them they have a responsibility to repair the floundering U.S. economy after taxpayers pulled the banks' bacon out of the fire in the bailout.

Obama said he reminded the guys whom he called “fat cat bankers” on 60 Minutes, that the financial crisis which nearly collapsed the American banking system had been "of their own making." He also asked the execs to stop opposing his proposed overhaul of the financial industry. "If they wish to fight common sense consumer protections, that's a fight I'm more than willing to have," Obama told reporters after the meetings. And, populist anger in a grocery store notwithstanding, that’s the best kind of fight to have, and to help out with, when it comes to big banking boogeymen.