Imagine if, during the climax of the health care reform battle, the much loved-comedic actress Reese Witherspoon was learned to have lost her fortune. And that wasn't all: she had contracted a rare, aggressive -- but curable -- illness. She then died, because she didn't have health insurance. Reform advocates would have seized the moment to declare Witherspoon's death a travesty of justice. Her death would serve as the perfect example of a good, hardworking American with a family that died due to the U.S. health care system. Public opinion of reform would likely have even ticked up a few points, benefitting from real reminder of the dangers of not passing health care legislation.

SEC v Goldman is financial reform's Reese Witherspoon.

And that's suspicious. In the example above, you can almost imagine conspiracy theorists wondering if health care supporters had staged Witherspoon's death to garner support for reform. So naturally, Republicans have begun suggesting that the White House has something to do with the SEC's newfound passion for prosecuting the most prominent investment bank. After all, the SEC chairperson does answer to the President. Of course, the White House denied it had any advance knowledge of the complaint.  More from The Atlantic, here.