Yes, the WSJ is pissing me off again. It’s getting to be a habit with them. Their latest and greatest is this piece of shit, claiming that it was mere “irrational exuberance” on Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s part—which is, after all, his “trademark”— when he said that it would be an “almost treasonous” of Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to follow a loose money policy, and that he would be treated “pretty ugly” down Texas way should he do so. The Rickman meant “no literal harm,” the Journal dudes assure us.
No, of course not. When a right-wing thug threatens someone with literal harm, only a left-wing sissy would think that he actually meant “literal harm.” And I’m sure that the next time President Obama makes a speech, in, say, Detroit, and threatens Rick with “an old-fashioned, downtown beatdown,” no one will take him seriously.
Afterwords
The Journal goes on to say that Mr. Perry was really only expressing his enthusiasm for what the Journal calls “sound money.” “Mr. Perry seems to appreciate that the Federal Reserve can’t conjure prosperity from the monetary printing presses,” the Journal intones, pretending to present as unquestioned and unquestionable “fact” what is, in fact, a dubious argument. To its credit, the Journal notes that “Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff has suggested that an annual 4% to 6% rise in the price level over several years would do the trick [solve America’s debt problem],” which necessarily implies that some people do think that the Fed can “conjure prosperity.” Surprisingly enough, the Journal doesn’t call Dr. Rogoff a traitor, nor does it promise to slap his sorry ass from one end of Wall Street to the other, should he dare to set foot on their turf.
As for Perry’s “irrational exuberance,” I think “calculated hypocrisy” is a better term— something the Wall Street Journal knows a great deal about. Perry said that for Bernanke to adopt a loose money policy would be “almost treasonous.” Not “treason,” mind you, but “treasonous”—“treasonish,” if you will. And not even that, because it’s “almost treasonous.” So he wasn’t calling Ben a traitor, nothing like that. No way!
Addendum
When I began writing this piece, I searched on the Daily Beast for articles containing the words “Wall Street Journal Rick Perry sound money.” This is what the Beast came up with, for starters:
Prince Harry’s Ex-Girlfriends
Kim’s Sexy Single Life
Russia Plagued by Sharks
So, not quite Google. Or even Googleous.
