In the midst of the American financial system’s implosion (colloquially known as “oh fuck”), we have levity:

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

This would be indistinguishable from an actual scam if it had been A) in all caps, B) mentioned Jesus Christ.

Nation blogger Christopher Hayes’ friend (who allegedly authored the ‘plea’) included all of the other scam email elements– the situation is most urgent; reassurances of the “transactin’s” legality and safety are most vague, almost as vague as the promises of riches to those who respond.

And the plea was penned by an official serving in the government of a country in rapid decline.

But without all caps…I’m just not convinced that this minister Paulson really needs my blank check. He is ’speaking’ in a calm voice. Shoot this to my inbox when he starts shouting. (MOST KIND SIRS/mADAMS).

This American Life actually did a story about a group of people who scammed an email scammer. It’s worth a listen. The scammer’s scammers believed that the longer they kept this guy away from his computer, the more people they saved from scams. So they tricked him into schlepping out to Dafur and then kept promising to wire him money. And the guy fell for it. Aren’t scammers reluctant to trust anyone, what with being inherently untrustworthy themselves?

And finally, for those of you who find your names disconcertingly liberal, un-American, elitist, uppity, or just too ‘namey’–we have the Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator.

I’m Dust Chinstrap Palin.