Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was sounding almost apologetic last night in praising George W. Bush's handling of the financial crisis. He said the president practically mothered him during the tense process, and mostly let Paulson and the others do their thing. As you may recall, Bush seemed so low-key and deferential in those last frightening months that some commentators assumed that the guy was just phoning it in. Not so, Paulson said last night at NY's Stern Business School. He also pointed to his own internal pressures of not wanting to be remembered as the Treasury Secretary who oversaw the country's economic collapse. Contrary to what the conspiracy nuts keep claiming, such motivation would trump any ulterior motives with his bank buddies.