From Mark Grant, author of Out of the Box
In The Merry Old Land Of Oz!
Ha - ha - ha
Ho - ho - ho
And a couple of tra - la – las
That's how we laugh the day away,
In the Merry Old Land of Oz!
Life is a matter of perspective.
Being from Kansas (City) myself I am beginning to feel as if we have all returned to Oz. The Good Witch and the Bad Witch, depending upon the casting director of the day, is alternatively played by Angela Merkel of course. If she is imposing fiscal discipline she is in her sparkly shoes, her green dress and she is waving her wand and smiling benignly. If she is being asked to empty the coffers of Germany and is refusing then she is in the black dress with the black pointy hat. The movie opened in black and white and now has become quite colorful and each day one can glimpse some of the colors of the rainbow as painted by various European artists.
Rub, rub here, Rub, rub there, Whether you're tin or brass
That's how we keep you in repair In the Merry Old Land of Oz!
The tin man is now living at the bank in Frankfurt and he has received the Wall Street certificate for his brain which promises much and is short on delivery but that is what he learned. The Munchkins are all out on the yellow brick road and off to see someone or another and are presently mired in the poppy fields where they are having flower induced dreams of unlimited money, no responsibility and the Wizard, now living in Florida with Toto’s cousins Princess and Mr. Trooper, is finding great amusement with the antics of it all and reminds everyone that a horse of a different color will be a staring figure in the next act of the play as the poppy fields are left behind and the gates of the not quite so Emerald City come into view.
We can make a dimple smile out of a frown.
Can you even dye my eyes to match my gown?
Uh-huh!
Jolly Old town!
In the next scene we also find the Witch of the West, the International Monetary Witch, who agrees that someone has to pay and has presented several artful and magical plans to the ECB and the EU of just who this might be and how it could be done and the truth is she doesn’t really care as long as it is not her nor the folks in her domain. You see, when it comes to the fairytale lands of Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus and Spain everyone is of the same mind and that is that someone will have to pay and that is all well and good as long as it isn’t them. Lately we even have the believers in pixie dust and artful fantasies such as this that think that the ECB can make capital from nothing, a trick very similar to turning lead into gold, because while the printing is cheap; the consequences are fretful but damn the consequences; full speed ahead.
Clip, clip here, Clip, clip there, We give the roughest claws.
That certain air of savoir faire, In the Merry Old Land of Oz!
The scarecrow now has quite a large family living in Brussels and they are all spending their time fending off the crows, looking for hearts that beat with money and are still terrified of fire. The Greeks are settled in their counting house where all they have to do is threaten, ask and plead and more gold coins are dropped into the slot and the Spanish, quite envious these days, are building their own counting house in hopes of catching up with the Greeks. The Gnomes in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have recently sent people up from the mines and are beginning to notice that their stockpiles of precious metals are dwindling as they drain off into the Mediterranean. The Italians are about to join the fun and the Barolo will be paid by the Germans and life is good. The French are having a little champagne at St. Tropez and enjoying the show and the spectacle is thrilling as long as there is money to pay for it and everyone is willing to do so. Reports that stocks are running low or that people are tired of carrying the goods out to the sea and dumping them are met with jeers and then more schemes with one being more magical than the next and everyone enjoy the show and don’t look over your shoulder as, in the Bible, you will be turned to salt.
Ha - ha - ha, Ho - ho - ho - Ha - ha - ha -ha – ha
That's how we laugh the day away, In the Merry Old Land of Oz!