Perhaps this is no more than proof of the old adage that journalism is a career for young people, who necessarily have less in their memory banks than their elders.
In a dispatch July 16 (“Crises force Bush to embrace intervention“), the Financial Times quoted the following words as told to the Washington newspaper Politico by Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee:
“The top financial officials of George Bush's administration have come before the public and said ‘We’re from the government and we’re here to help you.'”
The FT report would have had more impact if it had explained the derivation of Mr. Frank's remark. In one of his most celebrated witticisms, President Ronald Reagan used to say:
“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'”
This post was written by Reginald Dale, Transatlantic Media Network Director
