Well. America Banker's decision to bestow Bank of America chieftain Kenneth Lewis with its "Banker of the Year" honor is pretty much going over like a lead balloon, what with this being the worst year ever for bankers and all. “It just doesn’t seem like the right time to be dancing in the streets and celebrating banking," J. J. Hornblass of BankInnovation.net tells the Times, which itself snarks that the honor is "like being named the outstanding British soldier of 1776." But we expect the real outcry will occur when American Banker, which just laid off a bunch of people ("less than twenty," but still) hosts a retro–Gilded Age soiree to celebrate the King of the Dipshits at the Plaza, skedded for December 4, right around the time that BofA will likely be announcing its own layoffs as it merges with Merrill Lynch. "Let's just hope they serve a lot of alcohol," says Hornblass. Yeah. And let's also hope the people with, you know, the guillotines don't show up.

Saluting a Banker in a Banking Year Worth Forgetting [NYT]