I cannot process the economic depression is unfolding here in the U.S.A. over the last few days. A crushing, amorphous weight has me plastered to the sofa in front of the TV. My breathing is labored, and my heart stops beating every now and then for ten or fifteen seconds. I have the odd sense that aspects of time have been suspended, or are moving in slow motion. These feelings are similar to those produced by witnessing a horrific accident, except that they are lasting not for minutes, but for days.
Really, I have only felt like this one other time in my life, beginning on the morning of September 11, 2001.
On 9/11, virtually every channel on television and every radio station abandoned regular programming and all commercials.
This past Friday, most broadcasts proceeded as usual. News segments touching on the “potentially apocalyptic” credit “catastrophe” were followed by the usual commercials from attorneys assuring that you can still declare bankruptcy, and from lenders promising that it’s easy to get a federally-backed home loan. Meanwhile, Talk Like a Pirate Day consumed the Internet. Chicago giddily watched as a Milwaukee Brewers loss dropped the Cubs’ magic number to 1. As far as I know, there were no candlelight vigils or acoustic concerts to unite the nation in a time of sorrow.
Maybe I — and members of Congress present at that secret meeting — have been overreacting. Over on MSNBC, New York Times columnist and professor of economics Paul Krugman attempted to comfort Rachel Maddow by reminding her that, “as the great economist John Maynard Keynes said, ‘In the long run, we are all dead.'” Meanwhile, on PBS, author Kevin Phillips recalled the collapse of Great Britain: “Doesn’t take long. And I’m afraid the United States is coming right into that period which marks a couple of decades coming up that are going to be very difficult for America.”

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A couple of decades. Let’s see, I’m 48 now.
Yesterday, we attended the wedding of the daughter of friends we have known since before they had kids. The new bride is 20. I kept thinking that if the newlyweds can tough it out for a couple of very difficult decades, things may improve when they’re only in their forties. It’s kind of hard to remember, but only eight years ago Bill Clinton was walking down a corridor into the Democratic National Convention, touted for his leadership into the greatest economy in the history of the world.
This morning, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is making the rounds on the Sunday political shows, where his proposed $700 billion emergency bailout is being — well, “examined” isn’t quite the right word, since no one knows much of anything about it. His $700 billion emergency bailout plan is being “referenced,” I guess. He doesn’t have much to say except that we just have to do it in the next few days — or else.
During a break, NBC News promotes an examination coming up this week which will compare what the Obama and McCain tax plans will mean to you, the American voter. Never mind that anything either Obama or McCain had previously planned is now entirely down the toilet.
Our economy has already gone from great to groaning in just eight years, under the pressure of a roughly one trillion dollar war. Tossing another trillion on the barbie is not going to mean happy days are here again. Making the Bush tax cuts permanent? A middle class tax cut? Health care for all Americans? All of that is so last week.
The thing, though, that really made my blood run cold was the news that Paulson’s emergency measures include putting him above the law:
Democratic lawmakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Schumer promised to act on the plan by end of next week. So far no leader has voiced objections to what Pelosi called the “sweeping and unprecedented powers,” such as barring courts from reviewing actions taken by the Treasury under the measure, that Paulson is asking for.
Hmm. Our new King Henry is already on the cover of Newsweek. I’m not a constitutional scholar. Can Congress make a law that cuts the judicial branch out of our government? Perhaps there’s no time to waste on such details now. Hurry! Sign here! This week! It’s an emergency!
President Bush, in a rare emergence from wherever on Saturday, called no blinking:
“And, you know, I know a lot of people here in Washington, Mr. President, saying, well, who to blame? Now is not the time to play the blame game. There’s plenty of time to analyze the situation. But from our perspective, it’s time to solve the problem, and that’s what we did.”
Absolutely. Solve first, analyze the situation later. Ask any plumber or electrician or software engineer how successful that approach is in fixing things.
Could any harm could come from Congress rushing to approve legislation they don’t even understand in order to avert what Bush administration officials insist is an impending disaster? Don’t they need to put politics aside and simply hand over a blank checkbook on behalf of all Americans? Isn’t it time for all Americans to come together and grant, um, whatever?
Everyone seems to feel that Henry Paulson is very trustworthy. By all accounts, he has the sort of reputation that Colin Powell used to enjoy.
Hey — the Bears just intercepted!
Watching the movie V for Vendetta one year ago made me think a lot about how terror and fear can be used to establish and maintain fascism. More recently, watching Andrew J. Bacevich on Bill Moyers Journal, I thought about fascism again. Moyers quoted Bacevich as writing, “The United States has become a de facto one party state, with the legislative branch permanently controlled by an incumbent’s party, and every President exploiting his role as Commander in Chief to expand on the imperial prerogatives of his office.”
I thought about fascism even more watching last month’s Republican convention. There seemed to be a monolithic emphasis on military, military, military — along with the fierce nationalism of an American flag screensaver three stories tall and chants of “USA!” squelching any dissent. Themes of class collaboration were punctuated by the raw populism of Sarah Palin and the cult of personality that immediately sprang up around her.
However, in discussing this with someone from the Republican side, it was pointed out to me that Barack Obama could be said to have his own cult of personality, and that one of the main components of fascism — the nationalization of key industries and assets — is the sort of thing that would generally be much more associated with leftists than with Republicans.
That, of course, was before the Bush administration moved to nationalize a mind-boggling portion of key industries and assets.
Hey — excellent fake punt by the Bears’ special teams!
Anyway, two of the insightful minds mentioned above do not put great faith in the promise of either an Obama or a McCain administration. Andrew Bacevich does not see either of them reigning in the imperial presidency:
I mean, people run for the presidency in order to become imperial presidents. The people who are advising these candidates, the people who aspire to be the next national security advisor, the next secretary of defense, these are people who yearn to exercise those kind of great powers.
Nevertheless, Bacevich — a conservative — favors Obama: “For conservatives, Obama represents a sliver of hope. McCain represents none at all. The choice turns out to be an easy one.”
Kevin Phillips says that both parties are tainted by money:
The people who have the connections with the lobbies and the big donors have absolutely no problem with all these bailouts and rescues. But they don’t dare admit it because who’s rescuing the laid off worker? Nobody’s rescuing them. The fact that the Democrats don’t want to talk about what they’re going to do if they get the chance, that’s dishonesty. But the Republican Party is thoroughly dishonest in the same way.
Nevertheless, Phillips would pay attention if President Obama leveled with America right away:
Well, I guess I would without talking out of school particularly, Obama told me one time he read some of my books. So I would be very interested and impressed if he in January started to say something has really gone wrong in this country. And I’m not sure that I or anybody else can turn it around. But we borrowed so much money.
Apparently, someone is going to have to start breaking the news to us that we cannot have everything and never pay for it. Things have to be paid for by somebody, and boy are we ever about to start paying — most definitely with our money, and quite possibly by hocking our Constitution some time later this week.
Meanwhile, I think the Emmy® Awards are on tonight. Seven years ago, you may recall, they had to be postponed because matters of grave and lasting consequence were unfolding.
Update, September 22, 12:06 PM: Andrew Sullivan points out an excellent layman’s explanation of the crisis by Jim Manzi at The American Scene.
Meanwhile, Paul Krugman remembers the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq and warns, “Don’t let yourself be railroaded.”
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