512 The Recession Ends

512 The Recession Ends

The recession is over.

Someone had to say it.  And since no one else has stepped forward to declare victory, I feel compelled to fill the void.

This is something we should have done much earlier.  Just as we should have done it in Iraq and should do it now in Afghanistan.

Oh, there are some odds and ends to clean up, but it's over.

The dollar's a little weaker than it should be.

The commercial paper market could use a little goosing.

Stock prices are not yet quite where they should be.

There's a little bit of trouble in the job market, still.

But basically, the economic war is over and we won.

Right about now, you're probably wondering what I'm smoking and trying to figure out how to cop some for yourself.

Delusional idiocy seems to be the order of the day.  So why not a decent delusion, one that makes us feel better and spend more?

We delude ourselves into believing the insolvent banks will become solvent.  We delude ourselves into believing the insolvent car makers will become solvent.  We delude ourselves into believing an inadequately small public works plan is going to set everything right.  So why not go the distance and say everything's Jake and it's just a matter of a bit of time and all the loose ends will be tied or clipped?

But seriously, folks:  The right wingnuts are getting hysterical about the Obama Administration's plans to revive the economy so elegantly put into a WWE-style submission hold by the Bushies.  The talk show types sound like they're not only hysterical, but hysterical and frothing at the mouth.  This is a good sign.  It shows the medicine is working.  The crazier they get, the closer we are to a real end to the recession.

The right has no intellectual rudder.  Buckley is dead.  Newt might as well be.  So the wingnuts will coalesce around the talk show talking heads.  Once you've put the intellectual core in the hands of anti-intellectuals, you're through.  Game over.  You've abdicated your ability to oppose the administration's aims and plans.  Period, end of story.  Go get a burger and a beer.

Shrapnel:

--Plans for the 50th anniversary high school reunion appear to have been canceled.  Just as well.  What would we have done beside brag about our grandchildren and play one-upmanship over our ailments.

--Plans for the semiannual WGBB Radio reunion this coming April continue apace.  Does anyone really want this?  Everyone will attend, and will end up on the floor of a lovely sports bar in Moote Pointe, NY called the Tree House, except those who will liaise at the Gateway Motel, the only sleep over venue within walking distance.

--Sent the annual birthday greeting to Mike Bloomberg the other day and he responded with a kindly note.  Thought about not doing it in protest over all those firings. But my inner name-dropping-star-fucker side took over.

I'm Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own, but you're welcome to them.®

©WJR 2009