February 22, 2009


Meanwhile, Back on Planet Earth,

It's Sunday morning in America and we have awakened to an age in which the unthinkable has apparently become impossible to avoid. Friendly Ed, the town banker has breathed his last. Coaxing him out of his coma with a stimulating tonic hasn't produced the usual lurch into consciousness. His eyes have not fluttered open at the last possible second for a warm Hollywood ending. The brain scan is flat. The defibrillator? Zilch. Adrenaline injected straight to the heart? The only response is the quiet humming of the air conditioning, and the shuffling of Alan Greenspan's feet, as he draws the sheet over the body and begins turning off the machines.

Were it otherwise, I'm sure we wouldn't be hearing all this loose talk about nationalizing the banks. Chris Dodd mentioned it, just in passing, and Team Obama said nothing doing. The stock market plunged anyway, and the morning talk was all about "oh dear, oh dear, what shall we do?"

Well, I hope that what we shall not do is get screwed through some jerry-rigged scheme for re-starting the economy that does not involve nationalization simply because the land of Ayn Rand gags on the N word. (the other N word). The taxpayers are shelling out a lot of money to keep afloat a system that was running full tilt boogie, trying to screw every last dime out of every last sucker before the band stopped playing. Now has come the recession that we hope can be kept from becoming a depression, and the Masters of the Universe are running like antelope from a prairie fire to their recently despised Uncle Sugar for refuge.

Well, let them come, but get a receipt. Better yet, get the deed to the place, lock, stock and barrel; isn't that how it's supposed to work? When Little Nell had to sell the family place because she couldn't pay the note, everyone booed Snidley Whiplash, but no one questioned his right to the property. So let the stockholders run for cover, move the corrupt management out, find someone who will work for a mere $500,000 plus benefits, and clear out the wreckage. Let Uncle Sam bring it back to life, and take a payback to the Treasury as the cost of doing business.

At some point, I think that Team Obama will probably come to the same conclusion as the NYT Editorial Page and sign off on nationalization. The Republicans, I guess, are going to sit this one out. Must be nice.
In the meantime, Hillary is in Beijing making sure the $787,000,000,000 check her boss just wrote doesn't bounce. That would be a perplexing predicament, I must say. Personally, I thought the Chinese were a little chilly. Let's not let Tibet, religious freedom or human rights obscure the realities of global trade; says Hillary. And we are so happy and proud you intend to continue investing in the American future...um, you do intend to continue, right? For the moment, replys the Minister of Finance. But the smile on his lips was as thin as OJ's alibi, and the look in his eyes lacked warmth.
The sole comfort of the day, and actually it was a considerable comfort, was news of the President's plan to cut the deficit in half by 2012. Apparently despite the huge numbers needed to save western civilization, President Obama has not lost sight of the looming crisis that will begin the day the Chinese decide they are no longer in the market for T-bills.
And the fact that $100 billion in support for education made it into the final version of the stimulus bill, is further cause for celebration. It must be apparent that despite it all, I maintain my sunny optimism. I believe it was Camus who once said "the man who can still smile, has not yet heard the terrible news."

DHL