April 22, 2016
Dear Everyone:
Poor Hillary.
2008 was supposed to be her turn.
She was going to be the First Woman
President of the United States.
She would break the
Glass Ceiling
for all of us.
The stage was set. The
American Voter was fed up with the
Republican Administration.
Not only were they, somehow, responsible for the
Bin Laden
Attack on New York and Washington in 2001; they were certainly
responsible for the disastrous decision to invade
Afghanistan and
Iraq.
AND they were In Charge when the
Financial Crises of 2007 pulled the rug out from under the economy.
Never mind that the change in banking restrictions, which led in
part to the
housing bubble, which led to the so on and so forth, were enacted
during the
Clinton Administration.
The Republicans were just naturally reviled in 2008.
Time for the Democrats to Take Over and Make Everything Better.
And there was Hillary, politically experienced and ready for duty.
But then.
She hit a speed bump. One
Barack Obama, a
Black Man, running for President.
It wasn’t the first time that a “Person of Color” had the
audacity to aspire to a position
above his “station in life”.
After all, this was America, the Land of Opportunity, where any
BOY could grow up to become President.
But this one was poised, erudite and significantly more
articulate than many of the voters.
Suddenly, voters had to choose between a Person without a Penis and a
Penis with Colored skin.
Ultimately, they chose the penis; and Hillary took one for the Party and
gallantly campaigned to break the
Color Barrier
at the White House.
And now.
The Republicans are having a field day
winnowing some 17 possible participants down to the current three:
Donny the Trumpet;
Ted the Intolerant; and
Uncle John Kasich, who alone seems like a Nice Guy.
But you know what they say about Nice Guys.
(Did you ever get the feeling that Kasich is staying in the Race
only because somebody threatened him if he suspended his campaign?
Those Republicans are really getting desperate.)
Hillary could take all three with one hand tied behind her back.
But first she has to get past another speed bump, one
Bernie the Sandstorm.
Bernie swept in from the Really Left Field, blithely championing “Wealth
Equality” and lots of Really Good Stuff which he’ll explain after
he’s elected.
Like Donny the Trumpet, Bernie represents the “Outsider”, even though
he’s been on the inside of politics for over 40 years.
But he’s Not a
Republican and, technically, he’s Not Really a
Democrat. What Bernie
is, actually, is a Would-Be Modern Day
Robin Hood.
He wants to take money away from The Rich People and give it to The Poor
People. This makes him very
popular with The Poor People along with the Temporarily Poor People,
i.e., young people who haven’t had time to get rich.
Bernie promises to
“break up the Banks”, and “reform Wall Street”, although how the
Banks will actually be broken up is unclear.
Ditto what new “form” Wall Street would take.
But let’s take a look at a previous attempt to manipulate the
economy for The Very Best Reasons:
The
Sherman Antitrust Act.
In 1911, the Supreme Court ruled that the Antitrust Act could legally be
used to break up the
Standard Oil
Company, owned and operated by
John D.
Rockefeller. Of the
resulting “Baby Standards”, about 50% promptly went under, unable to
continue without the support of “Mama Standard”.
Among the survivors was the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey,
renamed Eastern States Standard Oil, or ESSO.
In time, it was renamed
Exxon.
Meanwhile, Standard Oil Company of New York became Socony, which
became Mobil.
When Exxon acquired Mobil and was renamed ExxonMobil, you know that old
John D. was out there somewhere laughing his head off.
By the way, it’s not called “ExxonMobil” inside the industry.
Those in the know call it “Exxon Intergalactic”.
All of which suggests that Bernie’s plan to “break up the Banks” is
nothing more than pie-in-the-sky optimism.
And sooner or later, all those people gobbling up the pie are
going to wake up one morning with a heck of a tummy ache.
In the meantime, there’s a reason I keep my money in a
credit union. Too small
to attract the Wrath of Bernie.
Love, as always,
Pete
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