Plunderbund

I cringe every time George Bush says something optimistic because it almost always means something bad is going to happen.

Like back in March of 2003 when he told us the “war is going well.” Five years later and we’re still bogged down in Iraq and almost 4000 american soldiers are dead.

And September of that same year he brought us the optimistic message “I believe there are better days ahead for people who are working and looking for work.” How’s that working out for you, George?

And in August of last year Bush told us there was no reason to overreact to the coming mortgage crisis. “The fundamentals of our economy are strong”, he said, refusing to admit we had a problem. “I’m a glass-half-full person,” he proudly told us. “If markets are given a chance, they will adjust.”

Well the markets didn’t adjust. As a matter of fact, the subprime mortgage market has effectively collapsed. And the Bush administration is now doing exactly what Bush promised us they wouldn’t do: Bail out Wall Street - specifically Bear Stearns - while leaving homeowners out in the cold.

And what is Mr. Bush’s response to all this?

“The US is on top of the situation,” he promised. “In the long run the US economy is going to be fine”.

For some reason, I’m not feeling very optimistic.