Bear with me.
Remember when AIDS was considered by the high-minded to be some sort of punishment from on high sent to punish libidinous homosexuals for their morality-flouting lifestyles?
It wasn't just southern evangelists. Ronald Reagan's communications director, Pat Buchanan, stated that AIDS is "nature's revenge on gay men." Reagan's response to the growing epidemic was anemic at best. It was a problem confined to "others," people outside of his conception of reality (he fought World War II on a soundstage, remember).
The message was clear whne it came to AIDS: Fund programs for prevention, education, treatment and a cure? Why should we upstanding heterosexuals pay for the profligate lifestyles of morally bankrupt homosexuals - - i.e. bad people?
Because, you see, only bad people got AIDS.
How deep did the notion pervade the Reagan administration? From an article called Reagan's AIDS Legacy: Silence Equals Death:
Dr. C. Everett Koop, Reagan's surgeon general, has said that because of "intradepartmental politics" he was cut out of all AIDS discussions for the first five years of the Reagan administration. The reason, he explained, was "because transmission of AIDS was understood to be primarily in the homosexual population and in those who abused intravenous drugs." The president's advisers, Koop said, "took the stand, 'They are only getting what they justly deserve.' "
Not even a medical problem, they thought.
Things changed on July 25, 1985, when the American Hospital in Paris announced that Rock Hudson, a mainstream star in the Reagans' circle of acquaintance - - high profile good people! - - had AIDS. Though Reagan and his administration remained resolutely silent on the epidemic (he finally publicly addressed AIDS in 1987, near the end of his second term), mainstream Hollywood rallied around the cause all the more fervently, campaigning for government funding and intervention.
Because, you see, good people get AIDS. "Gosh, this could happen to anyone!" the people in Ron and Nancy's circle began to say to themselves.
If this could happen to Rock Hudson ...
Compare the pre-Rock Hudson attitude of righteous conservatives toward AIDS with local right wing columnist Patrick McIlheran's cold condescension toward those unlucky enough to be swept up in the mortgage lending crisis wave. He quotes an "angry renter":
"It just seems so wrong that these people made a wrong decision," she said, "and now they're crying for help and they seem to be getting it."
McIlheran himself lectures further:
Rage as you will about liars' loans and bankers' bonuses, what's still more outrageous is when we make it official public policy to punish the prudent and to help the profligate. It's grim that some people could lose their houses and have to rent for a while. It would be far worse if Big Mama Government swooped in to undo their mistake - with money taken from people who wanted to stop renting and never got the chance.
In this case the federal government has decided to take action; foreclosures are occurring at record levels, and, frankly, the banks are the main beneficiaries of the bail-out (it pays to have friends in high places). If some actual American citizens see a bit of relief, so much the better.
But, McIlheran sputters, why should we upstanding homeowners pay for the profligate habits of all those bad people? Because, you see, only bad people get into mortgage trouble. Only bad people can be taken in by fast-talking loan representatives who profit enormously from ridiculous mortgages. Only bad people experience bad breaks. McIlheran apparently can no more muster compassion for these deadbeats than Pat Buchanan could for the promiscuous, hedonistic queens he saw in his mind's eye when contemplating the scourge of AIDS.
We now learn that Ed McMahon - - by all accounts a sensible, good person with money and lawyers and powerful pals! - - is facing foreclosure on his mansion.
From CNN:
King: And the payments, you can't make -- what's the problem?
Ed McMahon: Well, if you spend more money than you make, you know what happens. And it can happen. You know, a couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that. And, you know, things happen. You want everything to be perfect, but that combination of the economy, I have a little injury, I have a situation. And it all came together.
Anyone even vaguely acquainted with pop culture of the past half-century is aware of McMahon's countless hosting and spokesman gigs. The guy was always working, tireless - - and don't forget his profit and syndication participation in shows like Star Search and TV Bloopers And Practical Jokes (on NBC from 1982 until 1998!). I'm fairly certain he never has to pay for his Budweiser, either.
And yet, it is happening to him - - a man with armies of agents and lawyers watching over him. He's not a guy known for tossing around money or being particularly "profligate." He's known as one of the "good eggs" in Hollywood. But, nonetheless, misfortune swooped on him (a broken neck, a bad real estate market, etc.) and now he faces a crisis.
Sure - you can see gold-encrusted Evander Holyfield getting into money trouble - that fits the McIlheran "you had it coming" profile. And the McMansion-lusting young couples who jumped from dorms to five-acre cul-de-sacs via mom and dad loans and made-up income numbers - - I admit to feeling they cooked their own goose.
But Ed McMahon? There he is on Larry King saying, "You know, things happen"! He's a veteran of two wars!
Gosh, this could happen to anyone!
So, what about non-celebrity people who are equally "good eggs," not particular greedy (though McIlheran preaches incessantly that greed and wastefulness are our God-given rights as Americans), and didn't/don't have that army of lawyers and agents nearby to check the paperwork for them? What about the ones that didn't "over-buy," but just bought a modest house for their family while trusting their mortgage broker?
Remember that paperwork when you bought your house? Remember the whole afternoon of signing and initialing? Did you have a lawyer present? You don't think they could have slipped one by you during that process?
Think again. One does not have to be "profligate" to be victimized. There are solid, coupon-clipping, flag-waving citizens out there who are in a deep hole because they took bad advice.
And to the "Angry Renters" quoted in McIlheran's piece: Rather than wallow in smug self-involvement and blame the victims, count your lucky stars (as I do; I bought my house before the boom and have a "sane" fixed mortgage). You dodged a bullet - the slightest shift in circumstances and you would have been in a chair at CountryWide Mortgage with a grinning rep hovering over you, paperwork in hand, American Dream in sight. "Only a fool would pass up this deal in this market. Are you going to be a fool?"
Because if it can happen to Ed McMahon ...
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