By Eric Margolis
"Before we discuss what’s left of the economy, a few words about one brave man. The shoes Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi threw at George Bush in Baghdad had more courage and truth in them than all the honeyed, sycophantic words of America’s fawning media. Zaidi reminded the world that George Bush, Dick Cheney and their Iraqi Quislings have the blood of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis on their hands – perhaps as many as one million – and the blame for creating four million refugees.
While al-Zaidi was being beaten in prison for his courageous act, off in New York, the fabled financial guru, Bernie Madoff, was accused of bilking clients of an astounding $50 billion while well-fed watchdogs of the Securities and Exchange Commission slept.
Thanks to Madoff and other Wall Street bandits, tens of millions of Americans have lost their life savings and retirement funds, and the word financial system is on the rocks. The storm they created has blown as far east as the Gulf and South Asia......
The United States needs serious rehab from the stimulating drug of cheap credit. The remedy for America’s economic ills is not more money but patience, saving, and endurance.
Americans must relearn the old verity that one must save for purchases and rainy days; that gambling with your home is idiotic; that there is no substitute for hard work or manufacturing; and that it’s always very risky to trust politicians or financial `professionals’ with your money.
The United States has shot itself in both feet. Now, it staggers and stumbles forward into a frightening 2009. No wonder Sheik Osama is smiling."
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