Far too many of us are feeling unusually doleful these days, as if the world as we know and knew it is about to go under. The government taking over the auto industry? The President of the United States firing the president of General Motors, a private company? Both those things are the very definition of fascism. The budget deficits and national debt climbing to unsustainable levels? The Chinese warning us not to debase our currency? Both those things are the very definition of economic lunacy. We have much to be doleful about, but keep the faith, the country will still be here in 2010, when the people who don’t think about politics will turn out the guys they see as the authors of all their troubles, and vote in the other guys. That’s the way it works.

 

  

Forget your troubles come on get happy

Chirped a song of the 30s back then

No matter the lyric was sappy

The point was that women and men

Who looked on the dark side of living

With joblessness, hard times and strife

Need someone prepared to be giving

Them reason to treasure their life

So that’s why I write these here verses

To say that the gloom is misplaced

It’s bad but the thing that is worse is

To think it’s the worst thing we’ve faced

We’re not on the brink of disaster

We’re not going over the cliff

If cheerful we’re out of it faster

This bad time will be just a riff

In this opera bouffe we’re all watching

As Obama and crew crash and burn

The voters the drift they are catching

And soon it will be adults turn

There are those who will sob it and bawl it

I ask you, don’t be one of those

‘Cause in truth I don’t know whatcha call it

But it’s mighty darn sure lachrymose