Happy Days are Here Again . . .

Saturday. Sofa. Coffee.

It is official. The economic crisis is over. Happier days are here again. You can tell because so many are now expressing their unhappiness. (If you don't appreciate this clever historical reference, click here .)

Let me take you back several years to 2008. The stock market was crashing, the housing market had crumbled, and there were predictions that the national and global banking and financial institutions were about to collapse like the house of cards, or obscene mansions of cards that some of them had become. It is not so easy to remember now, but some involved in that industry actually committed suicide rather than face the future. And some who had been crushed by their actions did the same.

We were paralyzed with fear. The most popular of degrading hand-gestures featuring one's middle finger was bumped into second place by a different hand-gesture featuring the index finger. Finger pointing was the best response most leaders could come up with.

Then the United States elected a new President. His toughness had been made apparent as he remained the last candidate standing after the most arduous and contentious presidential elections in American history. He was intelligent, calm, unflappable, and had a good 12-foot jump shot.

After years of drift, our federal government took extreme action. Within weeks financial institutions were propped up and bailed out. Billions of federal dollars began moving into the private sector. The new president took considerable time in his calm and confident manner to explain the strategy to a fragile nation, a fragile world.

That began only six months ago. I've got food in my refrigerator older than that.

No longer is there any serious talk of economic collapse. The housing industry has bottomed out and is on the way back. The stock market has been climbing for weeks. Unemployment figures are improving. Quarterly reports are encouraging.

And political opponents are attacking the President for the economic disaster. That's the best news yet.

The fear is almost gone. The worst is over. The weak and timid who took cover during the storm are now crawling out from under their rocks, and seeing the sun peeking through the tumultuous clouds sense that it is finally safe to come out and do what they have always done best, complain and point fingers.

Like the first snakes of spring, they are a harbinger of the halcyon days of summer.

But snakes may actually be preferable. They have no fingers with which to point, and they do not pretend that it is not poison that comes from their mouths.

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