Commentary: Economic pain falls on the just and unjust alike

November 20, 2008 The writer who put those words in the mouth of our first blue-collar TV character, Irving Brecher, died this week at 94, having lived long enough to see the country lurch through a succession of downturns, though few as bad as the current one. By the time "Riley" migrated from radio to television in the early1950s the postwar economy was on fire: advertising began its love affair with the small screen, national highways were being built coast to coast, Chevys and Fords were selling like hotcakes, Ronald Reagan was pushing GE refrigerators and light bulbs, and every kid knew what LSMFT stood for. Now, however, it seems that someone has hit the reverse button on the remote: our country is in contraction mode, our infrastructure is crumbling, our cars are cluttering local dealerships and commercial spots on local TV stations have plummeted.

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