Subtitled: Well, I'll be damned!.
One of the first things you get used to as a politically aware, non-Christian, non-conservative person is that conventional 'homespun' (i.e. fit for the average yokel) wisdom is often wrong but that it's also baked in the cake; it's common belief around the water-cooler, after all, that the USA MUST cut spending, that Social Security is 'insolvent' (Governor Ponzi?) ,that 'Medicare won't be around when I retire' (Head for Sweden!!), etc. etc. etc. Who hasn't heard this pablum, especially recently?
One thing, though, we haven't heard as part of the conventional wisdom- and I know we haven't since I'm quite aware of Paul Krugman's shrill cri(s) du couer (Economics and Politics Blog), as well as those of Brad DeLong(Grasping Reality with both hands) - is that stimulus was ever needed during this massive downturn. The right-wing simply would not- could not- comprehend it.
What we needed, according to the average media, was something ? (they really never said what we needed) . We got some stimulus, but it was seen almost immediately, and certainly in the rearview mirror, as wacky liberal spendthriftery. Right? Right.
So, I was surprised- nay stunned- today at around 4:00 PM CDT, listening to the top-of-the-hour news on XM 168 (XM Talk Radio Channel) between hours 2 and 3 of Randi Rhodes, when the newscaster from IRN/USA Radio(Who are these guys?) noted that perhaps the debt ceiling deal might actually NOT help the economy.
Hmmm, I thought; that's exceedingly true, but odd to hear since such a viewpoint was certainly not within my radio earshot during the months-long buildup of debtageddon. She then played a clip of some random financial guy making the stunningly simple and unicorn-sightingly rare saying that (I paraphrase) "cutting spending right now is bad. It would be like not giving a shriveling plant water but instead putting it in the sun" (!!!!)
How TRUE, I thought, but how odd as well. I've NEVER heard this defense of spending during the downturn in the generic media and I found it slightly disconcerting that today of all days- one day after the debt ceiling law was signed- that IRN/USA Radio News decided to run that story. It just seemed off.
When I got home tonight, I looked up the IRN/USA website and their programs, which turned out, of course, to be Right-wing Christianism. The station itself is also Clear Channel Owned which I guess speaks for itself as well.
I have to believe that maybe, probably, this news story- in a subtle way- was placed as an 'Obama says day, we say night' tale. Never mind that the Republicans are eager to shrivel the plant- they're not part of the conversation after the newscaster intones that "President Obama has signed the bill"...
I'm not going to dig deeper to find a smoking gun that suggests their 4:00 PM Newscast had a story in it designed to make President Obama look like he did the wrong thing (which he did, I know). There's no proof. Maybe I'm just paranoid after the nation has made such an inopportune rightward turn. Perhaps the network will replay this bit of odd-duckery in it's later news broadcast. Perhaps it won't.
I'm not going to make this diary any more of a link-fest than I already have. It's just that sometimes, when something hits you as being too odd for comfort, your hunch is probably correct that it's not a coincidence. Right-wing pablum, even the subtle sort, turns up in unexpected places. Unexpected to the naive, I now believe....