It's a classic story, really, one that most us of have heard in some permutation or other and that the vast majority of us have had the good sense to be appalled by. We are shocked, as we should be, by the abject lack of gratitude on behalf of the saved man. How could he? Why would he? What is he thinking? This is what's wrong with America! This jerk would have been dead if not for the selfless diner and yet our hero, who by all rights should be thrown a parade, now has to defend his actions in court and perhaps be held liable for damages by a jury of his peers. We hope, of course, that the jury shares our outrage and smacks down the plaintiff, wanting nothing more than to shake the defendant's hand before he leaves for the courthouse parking garage. But stranger things have happened.
The U.S. economy, and citizens, are the Choking Man.Barack Obama is the Heroic Diner.The Recovery Act is the Heimlich Maneuver.The temporary hit to the deficit is the broken ribs.
At the tail end of the 2008 presidential campaign, our economy almost completely collapsed, the facts here are not in dispute. Economists across the political spectrum were issuing dire warnings that truly bold action had to be taken in order to avoid another Great Depression. And although President Obama certainly would have preferred to take office without needing to employ such drastic measures, he had no choice. Time was of the essence and the victim was turning blue.
To be sure, the stimulus was massive, as it needed to be in order to be effective. Might there have been some side effects to the action, some injury sustained in its application? Absolutely. Nobody was thrilled with adding to Bush's record debt, but when you see your deceased Aunt Tillie frolicking with your childhood puppy at the end of a long white tunnel, and the doctor revives your sorry ass with defibrillation paddles, you don't sue him for malpractice because it left a nasty bruise on your chest that's gonna take a while to heal.
A year after the passage of The Recovery Act - and concurrent aggressive action by the Fed - the economy is on the mend. There is still a ways to go, jobs to be created, more stimulus dollars to take seed. But the growth is real. The catastrophe was averted. We did not, thanks to our President's boldness, drop dead. So what is his reward?
He gets attacked, blamed, slandered by the same jokers who are now on the road to recovery. They tell us he squandered his first year! Never mind that we were on the verge of Brother, can you spare a home? Never mind that we were thisclose to the American Dream morphing into one of those disturbing nightmares where you keep walking up and down the same street trying to find your bank, but can't seem to remember where they put it.
Yes, Obama's critics are just as galling as the ungrateful choker in our little morality play. And make no mistake, the "injury" they're complaining about is minor; another 3/4 of a trillion in debt that will eventually need to be dealt with is nothing compared to what might have occurred.
I am not advocating some deontological approach to politics whereby a man is judged solely on the motives of his actions and not by their consequences. In that scenario, Obama would have been heralded for the stimulus even if it hadn't worked, because, you know, his intentions were good. Kant might've made that argument, but I'm not drunk enough to do so here. This is consequentialism, folks; the result has been demonstrably borne out; the means have been duly justified by the end. In light of the skin of our teeth rescue, not only are Obama's critics disingenuous and peevish, but they ought to be the target of virulent public opprobrium. How could they? Why would they? What are they thinking? This is what's wrong with America!
No matter. In this story, as in our other, the saved man is shameless. He is taking his fight to the court of public opinion and he is doing his damnedest to have our protagonist held liable for the pain and suffering that he sustained. It is petty, it is small and it is indefensible. I sincerely hope that the jury - in this case comprised of American voters - smacks down those who would punish the Samaritan and instead clap him on the back and hoist him on their shoulders. This particular trial will go on for at least another three years before we get a final verdict; if the economy fully recovers and thrives, that is almost certainly what will occur.
And yet I worry. Because sometimes juries get it wrong.
