The candy-coating of the Ken Lewis saga continues at the Charlotte Observer. A couple of weeks ago, the daily paper managed to make the Bank of America CEO's refusal to release the names of Merrill Lynch execs who pocketed huge bonuses seem like a jolly misunderstanding rather than the bitter display of stonewalling it really was. Today, the daily again took the opportunity to hop way up Lewis' butt, continuing the gradual gerbilization of the Observer. For all practical purposes, the daily ignored a BofA story that made a splash on various national news Web sites yesterday. It seems that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, sent Ken Lewis a letter demanding, "on behalf of taxpayers," that Lewis reveal the names of the Merrill bonus babies. In the letter, the two Democrats told Lewis, "Your refusal to reveal compensation information fuels distrust and cynicism at a most sensitive time." Observer writer Christina Rexrode reported on the letter, but her story didn't make the cut for today's print edition of the paper, instead being relegated to a very minor spot on the daily's webs ite. Quick note to Observer financial editors: There's a big financial collapse going on you've probably heard of it and Charlotte's signature industry, banking, is heavily involved in it. Whenever the Bank of America CEO is in a tug of war with Congress and the NY Attorney General, that is something people want to know about. In other words, as a regular reader of many years, I'm saying, "Do your friggin' job, you wusses."