Lie, lie, lie, keep lying

Mugabe denies blame for Zimbabwe woes. I recall listening to a debate recently via Planet Money on reforming the banking system. A lobbyist for the big banks made the case that our principles of free enterprise, initiative and and flexibility, letting the market work, meant that the government couldn't and shouldn't regulate the banks more restrictively, or even break them up. Whatever the merits of the specific issues, I was struck by th bald-faced gall he had in making these assertions with TARP + easy money from the Fed + explicit guarantees. The panelists were economists or treasury department officials so they mildly called the lobbyist on his obfuscations; no "You lie!" here. In simpler and more innocent times I would have been disgusted by genocidal creatures such as Mugabe lying when everyone knows he is lying. It was a sign of their mental pathology that they went through the useless dance of denial. Now I see Mugabe as simply one end of a spectrum of corruption, immorality and bestial rational self-interest. Below is a song from circa 2000 which is I think the theme of our age.... Shaggy-It wasn't me It seems to me that the American people feel like some people have just taken a warm dump in their mouths, and slapped them with a big bill for expensive chocolates. You might as well swallow, it might taste like shit (because it is) but has some nutritive value, and you'll have to pay no matter what....

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