James Howard Kunstler, whose every Monday weekly blog about the state of things I always read, talked of Doomer Porn a while back. That's the word being used by smarties for the more dreadful web sites announcing all-around doom ahead from whatever cause. Kunstler says he's not a Doomer Porn merchant (and that perhaps the arch website of the category is www.dieoff.com), but this Monday he was pretty apocalyptic, as follows:
"As we turn the corner toward autumn, President Obama looks increasingly like a dupe, a tool, or a co-conspirator of Goldman Sachs. If he doesn't instruct the Justice Department to commence investigations of the company, and if he doesn't dissociate himself from their alumni hanging around the White House, the Treasury Department, and elsewhere in the government, he's going to become the object of an awful public wrath. Obama has no other choice at this point except to clean house - to fire Larry Summers, Robert Rubin, Tim Geithner, and all other former Goldman Sachs employees in positions of power and influence around him." That does not leave Pres. O much room for maneuver; either he goes after the Goldman-Sachs gang or he's going to reap the whirlwind. But O is a creature of G-S, in that they were, I believe, the #1 contributor to his campaign last fall.
I predict that O will stonewall this as he has stonewalled virtually everything for six months. A friend of mine calls him the "best motivational speaker" of his era—and nothing more. In other words all talk and no beef. We shall see. But I think Kunstler sets a benchmark. If O dumps the G-S gang and starts an investigation, he's one thing; if he doesn't he's another. We shall see. It makes waiting a little exciting, much better than watching paint dry. But don't hold your breath.
