Frank Rich: American's Need To Face Reality of Economic Crisis

Imus spoke with The Man at The New York Times, Op-Ed Columnist and doomsday predictor Frank Rich.

"It's a scary time," Rich said, highlighting his theme in yesterday's column. "We have a history over the past ten years of just wanting to ignore bad news."

Rich believes Americans will not face the reality of the current economic crisis until they understand its dimensions. This requires government to be honest with its citizens, a difficult and unfamiliar assignment.

"Government's job has to be to face reality and not sugarcoat everything," said Rich, who pointed out the Bush administration's habit of sugarcoating everything, from the Iraq insurgency to the housing bubble. "Then it becomes a chicken-egg situation; the public has been very disillusioned with most American institutions for some years now."

Obama's greatest asset right now is the country's faith in him, in Rich's opinion. Imus, however, thinks the government lies about everything, and used the vaccine controversy as an example. "It contributes to peoples' inability to feel secure that they're getting the straight scoop about anything, from anybody!" said Imus.

Rich likened the mistrust of government on vaccines to the feelings of insecurity people now have toward financial institutions.

"People are afraid to do anything!" he said. "They don't know where to put their money, if they have any money left. They don't trust 401Ks, they don't trust the stock market, and no one wants to buy anything."

Unfortunately, Rich believes the state of the country is worse than it appears.

"Obama has told the truth: he said even before he took office that things are going to get worse before they get better," said Rich. "They have to get better. They always get better. The question is whether it's going to get better in one year, five years, or ten years."

Imus and Rich agreed that last night's Academy Awards ceremony was "tedious," and neither was impressed with host Hugh Jackman. Said Imus, "I'm sick of smarmy late-night comics who make fun of everybody with uncomfortable jokes that are not funny."

Suddenly, Rich had an idea, a veritable stroke of genius.

"It should be you!" he said to the I-Man. "Let's shake it up!"

-Julie Kanfer