Cracked Window

The most provocative, over the top, and disturbing take on what has befallen us appears in the latest Rolling Stone. Sometimes the truth is so close we can’t recognize it, and a writer like Matt Taibbi comes along to piece everything together into sharp focus:

The reality is that the worldwide economic meltdown and the bailout that followed were together a kind of revolution, a coup d’état. They cemented and formalized a political trend that has been snowballing for decades: the gradual takeover of the government by a small class of connected insiders, who used money to control elections, buy influence and systematically weaken financial regulations.

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How many people are paying attention to President Obama now that the hoopla over his election and inauguration has died down? Not enough. Listen to this video clip (requires a scroll down) of what he said today about our stricken economy. Better yet, read the transcript of his speech after the clip. He understands what needs to be done as painful and distasteful as it is.

Republicans apparently find taxes so detestable they’d rather see millions suffer and the country grind to a halt to get their way. Such is their boundless ideological arrogance. But as the president said today:

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I delay going to Costco as long as possible. But requirements of life, purchased inexpensively, make the trek unavoidable. Let’s face it, bulk toilet paper and laundry detergent and printer cartridges are essentials.

Judging from the overflow crowd today, lured partly by the approaching expiration of coupons, the economy isn’t shattered quite yet. That said, I did overhear several couples arguing about what was the best deal.

Savings aside, the experience was existential. A few times as I negotiated the crowded aisles and endured the food sample ladies reciting their scripts like robots, I wondered whether this was what life has become: a feeding frenzy of consumerism in a cavernous warehouse.

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