Let me tell you a story that says something about two
opposite aspects of the human condition. There is a place I visited a few times
where a terrible tragedy was certain to happen but the day was saved for some
of the people by a combination of occurrences, yet for some strange reason, no
one could be found to give thanks to. What happened was that a caravan of
vehicles carrying people of all ages was traveling on a road that was winding
its way high above the side of a tall mountain. A powerful earthquake hit, the
road gave way and the vehicles came tumbling down the side of the mountain.
There were severe casualties in every vehicle as they came
rolling down the mountainside except for one whose driver remained alert all
the time, and was able to steer the vehicle down without losing control of it.
The descent was rough to be sure, and some people got hurt but their wounds
were superficial when compared to what the passengers of the other vehicles
suffered. Someone I know who witnessed the aftermath of the calamity described
it with the use of words like implode, collapse, downgrade, lost, replace,
fall, jittery, fear, contagion, halting and so on.
Did this really happen as described? Well, not exactly as I
described it because I was only writing a metaphor to illustrate the strange
reasoning that results when someone engages in partisan political thought.
However, the adverbs and the adjectives I mentioned are those of Bret Stephens;
words he used in his latest Wall Street Journal column. It was published on
June 12, 2012 under the title: “A Presidency of Excuses” and the subtitle:
“Why's growth at 1.9% and unemployment still firmly above 8%? Apparently the
buck stops in Berlin .”
He was talking about the economic earthquake that hit Asia in 1997; the one that caused the region to implode
and result in the calamity he so aptly described with those words. A moment
later, he took up the subject of imploding Europe
not to argue that the economic cycle has not been repealed anywhere on this
planet but to draw a false comparison. What he did after describing the Asian
calamity was to say this: “And yet the American economy was unscathed.” What he
did after describing the European calamity was to argue that the American economy
did not do as well this time. Wrong analogy.
Standing on his false parallel, Bret Stephens went on to
argue a case that is purely out of his imagination. To do this, he quoted
President Obama as saying: “Obviously this matters to us because Europe is our
largest trading partner” to say that he was blaming Europe for America 's woes.
This is false because the President was only citing one of the many factors
that enter into an economic equation. The second falsehood committed by
Stephens is that he tried to play the semantic game but fell flat on his face.
Here is what he said in this regard: “'Europe' only counts as America 's
largest trading partner in an aggregate sense.” Yes, and this is exactly what
the President was saying, kid. If you want to put words in someone's mouth, you
got to do it more intelligently than that.
The rest of the Stephens analysis is absolutely useless
because the parallel was false to begin with. Whether or not he knew this, he
should have started by pointing out that in the same way Japan 's bubble in real estate and the financial
institutions caused the Asian calamity, America 's bubble in real estate and
the financial institutions caused the European calamity. Japan has had a rough ride since then; so far America has
fared much better under the leadership of Barack Obama. Stephens and the Wall
Street Journal should be thanking their President for his performance, not
berate him.
After thanking the President for his cool-hand leadership in
the economy, the columnist can then cite the statistics he gathered himself,
and repeat the point he made already except that he should spin it positively
this time. Here is that point: “trans-Atlantic commerce is flourishing as never
before … U.S. exports of goods to Europe have risen every year of Mr. Obama's
administration. They are now on course to exceed the 2011 record of $328
billion. The overall volume of U.S.-EU trade jumped 14% from 2010 to 2011.”
Hallelujah! You should be dancing in the street, Bret. And while you're at it,
take all those other editorial writers with you. You could also whisper a word
of advice in the ear of Mitt Romney: Be careful what you say about the
President's performance in the economy because you may prove to be unprepared
to take over from him.
And while Stephens is still hot from the dance, he can
pretend to be Netanyahu of Israel and have the American Congress invite him to
give a rousing speech thus get 29 standing ovations. And in the speech, he can
ask the Congress of imbeciles to treat America like it treats Israel if only
this one time before the nation falls off the fiscal cliff that even Barack
Obama -- with all the skills that he has -- will not be able to steer safely
down the mountainside as he did when he took over from a previous
administration at the exact moment that the earthquake hit.
As you can see, my friends, the human condition is usually
viewed as being lamentable, but there comes a time when someone will do the
right thing quietly and get no credit for it. This is the opposite aspect of the
human condition that is almost never seen or celebrated.
A strange phenomenon but a real one in this wonderland they
call politics.