by Robert Griffith

Created on: March 13, 2009

We're not in Oz anymore. In Oz, the sound and fury that generated bone-shaking fear and trembling was a trumped-up special effect. The substance behind it was nothing more than a single flawed human being, cocooned behind a curtain where he operated a console that gave him a false sense of security and power. If we were in Oz, we could throw back the curtain, reveal the truth, get what we want, and skip lightly back home. But we're not in Oz. We're back home, and the sound and fury and fear and trembling is very real. Here, the covers have been pulled on the American economic condition and the view is stark, clear, hard, and horrible.

Will the Obama administration be able to stop America's economic downturn despite the monstrous tasking and effort required to address it on multiple fronts simultaneously? Stop it, yes, in the short term. Reverse it? Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here. The first task alone calls for Herculean effort. But yes, the downturn will become an upturn depending on the actions of the American people.

The initial overview of the efforts and progress the Obama administration has made to stop the economic downturn is positive and hopeful, and shows productive promise. The picture is muddled, of course, by detractors and opponents who oppose the policies being implemented. There is some legitimate criticism that the broad scope of actions being taken is too broad, that the efforts could be more surgical and focused, that historical precursors similar to present conditions might give us a handle on the pros and cons of which way to go now.

It's a good possibility that there's more than one way to triage America's economic injuries, but the blunt truth of the extent of the damage requires that action be taken now. America placed its faith in the hands of our currently elected leadership and now it seems best to support it. Legitimate concerns, reasoned dissent and thoughtful discourse have a place as these policies are formulated by the Obama administration, and it has been made clear that they are welcome there. But the complaints of self-serving interests with purely personal political agendas and those who feel the entitlements they assume to be their right are not being served as quickly or as substantially as they think they deserve has proven to be a drag on progress. The voices of the fearful, the impatient, the hateful and the self-involved will always be present in a democracy, on main street as well as Wall Street, in politician

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