Buckley’s Mix

Beyond Satire

Posted January 28, 2009, 09:01 ET Comments Off

Don’t you hate it when someone tells you that things are so crazy that they’re beyond satire?

That sounds like a challenge. So how to satirize the bailout? Well, the idea behind satire is to take a bit of popular wisdom and extend it to the point of nuttiness. In the case of the bailout, then, what crazy ideas have been left out?

1.  A Trade War. It worked so well during the 1930s, didn’t it? Oh wait, that’s already on the table. The bailout bill has “buy American” provisions for the steel industry. And the always reliable Harold Meyerson asks this morning for tougher anti-dumping laws.

2.  Businesses should be run from the commanding heights of the state. So said Lenin. Thanks Heavens it couldn’t happen here.

3.  An attack on the malefactors of great wealth. Now THAT won’t happen here, provided they show that their greed is tempered by charitable donations to worthy causes.

4. Pressure on banks to make bad loans. They’re just too tight with their money, you see…

5.  A Five Year Plan. The one problem with the bailout is that it is short-term. How do we ensure that the beneficient effects of the bailout last beyond the immediate future. Well, as it happens, I have a plan…

Category: Politics as mental Illness
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