Here's the thing: the fact that Ackman has been so right makes him an expert. The fact that MBIA's management has been so wrong raises questions about their expertise, regardless of the fact that they run a bond insurer. It's like Captain Edward John Smith telling outside observers that he's the iceberg expert -- as he crashed the Titanic into an iceberg.

In an email, hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson reacted to MBIA's complaints this way: "Gee, what a surprise -- MBIA's crying foul, claiming market manipulation ... MBIA's been saying this for years and, in fact, got the SEC and Spitzer's office to investigate Ackman many years ago, yet in a wonderful bit of irony, they not only gave him a clean bill of health, but their inquiry gave Ackman the opportunity to present his analysis and conclusions about MBIA to regulators -- which is now coming back to bite the company, now that nearly everything Ackman said was wrong with MBIA's business model and the risks they were taking (and the likely consequences thereof) has come to pass. You really can't make up stuff like this: had MBIA and Ambac listened to Ackman as recently as two years ago (he's been issuing warnings for more than five years), they wouldn't be in their graves right now...."

Exactly.