Nothing like a 335-point plunge in the Dow to break the tedium of 200-point daily swings that were starting to seem routine. This may or may not be the start of the Mother of All Bear Markets.  If it is, though, the silver lining is that a 12,000-point plunge in the Dow would probably cure America of its dependency on feather merchants, mountebanks, bad wizards and paper shufflers. All of them have had a big stake in pretending we could borrow our way back to prosperity.  Funny how they are the only ones who have truly prospered, even as the Great Recession continues to suck the marrow from the nation’s middle class. At Dow 4000, rectification might conceivably include show trials, public floggings and recantations, and sundry other delights for the masses.  Then again, maybe the Dow is about to reverse with a vengeance, ushering in yet a few more years of business as usual.