The debt ceiling was raised, the crisis averted.
So why did the stock market go down again? Wasn’t there supposed to be a rally?
You may recall the award-winning movie from 2008, The Hurt Locker, in which a US soldier disarms bombs in Iraq. For the enemy combatants, blowing up innocent civilians was acceptable so long as it furthered their goals. I mention all this because it seems eerily similar to what we all witnessed in Congress last week.
Tea party members actually said – publicly - that they were willing to let the US default on its debt if it led to reforms later. That is, they were perfectly willing to detonate an economic bomb in order to reach their long-term objective (which, ironically, was to save the economy). Sane members of congress, despite universally despising the bill, passed it only because self-destruction was worse.
Both Republicans and Democrats swallowed bitter amounts of compromise to get the job done over the weekend, which was admirable. Despite this, rightist media is still calling the President a “Marxist thug” and “Nation Destroyer,” along with the usual racial slurs (ex. “leader with swollen lips.”)
Some of the tea party's ideas are actually good, though most members probably don't realize why. For example, Keynesian spending (to improve the economy) doesn’t work if everyone is worried about the country spending too much and defaulting on its debt; in this case, fiscal conservatism is better. It’s not the tea party’s economic ideas as much as their methods which are concerning.
The stock market continues to drop because people around the world increasingly regard the US as fanatical. The nation’s cult religion, “founding fatherism,” is growing faster than Falun Gong.
Many believe that because of fringe groups, the United States simply can’t be trusted.
Can it?
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(about the civil war in Cuba)
Michael Corleone: "I saw a strange thing today. Some rebels were being arrested. One of them pulled the pin on a grenade. He took himself and the captain of the command with him. Now, soldiers are paid to fight; the rebels aren't."
Hyman Roth: "What does that tell you?"
Michael Corleone: "It means they could win."
From the movie, The Godfather, Part II
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