This is getting really ugly, real fast. NY AG Andrew Cuomo wants to know more about the bonuses that Merrill Lynch handed out on the eve of its merger with Bank of America (here's the AP story). In case you haven't kept track of this schoolyard tussle, Merrill's ousted CEO, John Thain, claims that officials at B of A were involved in the decision to accelerate the payment of 2008 bonuses. The B of A folks say Thain did no such thing - that he tried to sneak through the bonuses (in addition to spending some ridiculous sums to decorate his office). Cuomo apparently wants to figure out, among other things, whether any of this money is tied to the government bailout. Meantime, our "Like, duh..." nominee comes from the results of a survey done for the PR outfit Edelman. The firm found that - are you sitting down? - two-thirds of those questioned trust corporations less today than they did a year ago. What I'd like to know is who are the goofballs making up the remaining one-third? Well, maybe I don't want to know.