Guest, I agree with you, and with the Globe article. The problem is, no matter how bad things get, it's unlikely that most Americans are likely to get up in arms about it. I would venture to say that about 90% of the people who read that op-ed piece (well, maybe 80%), have a MEGO reaction--"my eyes glaze over". No sex (a la Clinton), no murder (a la O.J.), no foreign devil (a la Osama), ergo, no interest. At least, none that will last past the looming baseball strike.

To most people (and I confess I include myself to some extent), "THE ECONOMY" is an immense incomprehensible chameleon that takes on the characteristics of whatever the current government or set of commentators wants it to. Wasn't it just a couple of years ago, or less, that we were told that the economy was "stronger than ever", so much so that everybody got a check from the government? (It was almost enough to buy one of those automatic electric muscle exercisers, or a set of Bridgestone tires.) So now we have W telling everybody that he's going to punish those bad corporate chiefs who were being mean and daring to hurt our precious economy. Yeah, right. Meanwhile, more and more of my patients are going on welfare, more and more of my fellow doctors (including me) are leaving town because they can't pay their bills, more and more small businesses are failing, and more and more CEOs are pulling down hundred-million-dollar compensation packages.

To my mind, the only good thing about this economic tailspin the corporate presidents and politicians have put us in (and I'm talking about both parties) is that all those huge stock options that are such a big part of the CEOs' golden parachutes may vanish like Enron employees' portfolios. But I'm sure they'll still find a way to steal enough money from us to be comfortable.

Aloha,
Mark

P.S., Guest JW, although I do agree with you, I would make one suggestion: your arguments may be better accepted here on the Mudcat if they're not accompanied by nasty little comments like the one above directed at MMario. It may have been meant with a wink, but it didn't come across that way.