by Rick Ackerman
RickAckerman.com
The stock market has settled into a tedious rhythm that could almost make one think there’s nothing interesting going on in the world. Dull nights have been setting the tone for dull days, as occurred on Wednesday. Traders are waiting for news to move the markets, but perhaps all the news that matters, at least for the time being, is already out. So we are left with squabbling along the political fault lines of the pandemic. A Texas hairdresser was jailed for defying the quarantine, and the nation as always is divided roughly in half over the question of whether the state overstepped its bounds. All such convictions and fines are certain to be overturned if these cases ever get heard in an appellate court. If you watch Fox News, you’ve had enough; if CNN/MSNBC, anyone who defies the lockdown is a potential killer. A reasonable assumption is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. The fact that this question is unlikely to be answered, even broadly, promises to gnaw on the American psyche for years to come.