SOOTHING WORDS FOR A CRISIS….Pretend you are an ordinary American. I know that’s hard: as a reader of an elitist coastal blog you’re barely even an American at all. But pretend. You just spent a hundred bucks yesterday to fill up your gas tank. You didn’t get a raise this year. You’ve got some unpaid bills you’re juggling. Your neighbor across the street just got laid off. Property taxes are coming due next month. Your car is making a funny noise. You just got a memo from HR telling you that the paycheck deduction for healthcare premiums is up again and your take-home pay will be $100 lighter next week.
You turn on the TV. At the commercial break there’s a two-minute ad from Barack Obama about the meltdown on Wall Street. If you actually sit through it, here’s what he says he’s going to do to make things better:
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Provide a $1000 tax cut for the middle class
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End the “anything goes” culture on Wall Street
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Fast track a plan to end our dependence on Mideast oil
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Crack down on lobbyists
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End the war in Iraq
Jonathan Stein comments: “It is everything Obama has been criticized for being on the stump these past several weeks: thoughtful, measured, and post-partisan. It takes no jabs at John McCain or George W. Bush. In the last few days, though, Obama and his ads have hit harder; obviously the campaign felt the content of this ad is too serious to be presented in that style. Key question: Does it hold your attention?”
Well, ordinary American, what do you say? Does it?
