A new Mark Steyn column that really only covers new territory in the sense that it's written at the end of a week in which the West's economic prospects grew palpably dimmer.
I haven't seen any comments on comment threads - or columns by lefty or just plain jaded pundits - saying "Isn't Steyn aware that his doom schtick is wearing a bit thin?", but I'll bet they're out there. I have seen some - both comments on threads and reason-to-be-optimistic pieces by well-credentialed rightie pundits - countering his outlook with one that focuses on celebrating that time-tested can-do American spirit. Victor Davis Hanson and John Podhoretz come to mind in this regard.
The glaringly undeniable truth, however, is that Steyn has the numbers on his side. The US government is spending at twice the rate it's taking in money, and even the best proposals put forth so far are, as he says in a sinking-ship metaphor, arguments about whether to use a thimble or an egg cup to address the situation.
If there is anything truly fresh in his latest column, it's this uncomfortable truth: that even if we elect the coolest, most Reaganesque Republican president this nation could come up with next November, he or she would not be able to enact the kinds of policies necessary to stave off a descent into Somalia-level chaos because the American people no longer have the maturity to say to themselves that such policies are necessary.
And the options only get more stark as we put this off another hour.
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