IN THE HEART OF THE FIRE

HOW MANY TIMES have you said, "Now if I could just write (say) something as well as that"?

How about Bob Herbert's 'When Madmen Reign' (NY Times Op Ed, September 29), his opening shot?

'I’m not holding my breath, but I would like to see the self-proclaimed conservative, small government, anti-regulation, free-market zealots step up and take responsibility for wrecking the American economy and bringing about the worst financial crisis since the Depression.

Even now, with the house on fire, the most extreme among them won’t pick up the fire hoses and try to put it out.'

So here we all are, at the center of a conflagration akin to a forest fire set off by a group of picnickers who wanted a 'barbie' in the woods at the height of the fire season. We are surely past the moment of finger pointing about who was responsible or who held up rolling out the hose. The politicians are in the crossfire between the immensely powerful lobbyists who aim to protect 'Wall Street' (say, have you any idea of how powerful lobbyists are?) and the sudden anger of millions of citizens who have flooded Washington in a deluge of emails, many expressing rage at the possibility of rewarding the incendiaries.

'We get the politicians we deserve', as I previously quoted. 'Can we be all that deserving?', one might quip. Thomas Friedman, in his latest book (Hot, Flat, and Crowded) traces the origins of the cumulative messes, of which the latest credit crisis is just one, in which we find ourselves. Is there a way out? The power of one activity has been strikingly evidenced this week...the power of email. This power had previously been evident in influencing policy even in China. But how should such power be used? Maybe to reassure the 'pollies' that it really is OK to roll out the hoses and start quenching the fire? There can be no perfect solution to this kind of mess. Maybe to pressure the current candidates to start saying something clear and productive about some of the other alligators swimming around us? Like the energy crisis, decay of infrastructure, the excessive political polarization of government, and the inefficiency of excessive urbanization are examples surely?

If the 'Bailout' package is the best we can do, then let's do it. It may not be, of course. Some 200 economists have expressed their collective doubt about this. 'Wall Street' will eventually bounce back and maybe doing so as I write. The freezing up of credit appears to be the central issue. How are other countries responding to this, perhaps by increasing the money supply as the main intervention. Is there a case to hasten slowly on a massive 'bailout'. Putting so much economic power into the hands of one man who won't be around for much longer, with no political redress, seems too lacking in caution. Not even in wartime have we gone to such extremes.

Remember the joke about the three greatest lies (The check is in the mail; I will respect you in the morning; and Trust me, I'm a doctor)? What are we to make of 'Trust me, as an ex-mogul, I can rescue us from this mess'?

Maybe we should hang on a little longer or find a means to graduate and review the course of this proposed intervention, certainly for government to retain adequate control. But not too long...the dog days of government are just ahead, where the trade winds cease to blow. I would like, before November 4, to see how the candidates really propose to step into action. Our emails to them should insist they become plain about what they plan to do about "change".