Washington has been host to many great political spectacles including impeachments, bedroom scandals, money grabs and the D.C. specialty, tuxedo mud wrestling. But the spectacle in Washington this week is almost unprecedented. It’s the squeeze play to end all squeeze plays. And we’ve all got a ringside seat. At least as long as we have something to place on that seat.

Consider the players. On one side we have Fed Chief Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. On the other is Congress. And in between, you guessed it, John and Jane Q. Public, awaiting financial Armageddon or a slow painful recovery.

The anxiety is palpable and the stakes are beyond the reach of fiction. Ben and Henry are predicting a complete global market meltdown within days unless a massive funding bailout is approved by Congress. And they may very well be right. But nervously seated across the table is the entire Legislative branch of our democracy, itching to wrap this up by the end of the week so they can return home and campaign for reelection. Each and every one of those legislators understands this may be the most important and far reaching vote of their political lives. Take too long and the bridge may fall away under their feet. Rush to judgment, make a mistake and those carefully crafted political careers will fold up like a sub-prime mortgage. And the squeeze is on.

It’s the perfect storm, Washington style. And everyone is getting clipped. No is left out on this one. Or maybe not. Perhaps there is one small group that isn’t getting pinched. I’m not a Wall Street wizard. And understanding the intricacies of high finance is clearly beyond me. But I have this nagging feeling that the same cast of characters who orchestrated this mess are quietly sitting on the sidelines, poised with sacks of cash, waiting for the deep discounts. And when the bailout comes, and it surely will, they’ll swoop in and make a killing…for the second time.