Matt Taibbi wrote the introduction to that book you’re supposed to buy fifty copies of.

He just did a live chat interview with National Review’s Byron York on the banking crisis. (York is one of those conservatives who blames the collapse of the international financial system on . . . minority homeowners.)

Here’s how the interview ends: Not with a bang, but with an LOL:

MATT TAIBBI: I mean really. You honestly think a company like AIG tanks because a bunch of minorities couldn’t pay off their mortgages?

BYRON YORK: When you refer to “Phil Gramm’s Commodities Future Modernization Act,” are you referring to S.3283, co-sponsored by Gramm, along with Senators Tom Harkin and Tim Johnson?

M.T.: In point of fact I’m talking about the 262-page amendment Gramm tacked on to that bill that deregulated the trade of credit default swaps. . . . Tick tick tick. Hilarious sitting here while you frantically search the Internet to learn about the cause of the financial crisis — in the middle of a live chat interview.

B.Y.: Look, you can keep trying to make this a specifically partisan and specifically Gramm-McCain thing, but it simply isn’t. We’ve gone on for fifteen minutes longer than scheduled, and that’s enough. Thanks.

M.T.: Thanks. Note, folks, that the esteemed representative of the New Republic has no idea what the hell a credit default swap is. But he sure knows what a minority homeowner looks like.

B.Y.: It’s National Review.

Taibbi will join me on Sunday, October 26 for a fun event at the Bowery Poetry Club.