I’ve been reading those columns by skeptics like David Brooks and Paul Krugman, and those news reports about members of Congress vowing to scrutinize Barack Obama’s stimulus plan to make sure it’s letter-perfect before they vote for it. And here’s my question to those folks:

If you were on an ocean liner that was sinking and someone offered you a seat in a lifeboat, what would you say?

a) “Nah, this little lifeboat will never make it in these rough seas. Build me a bigger and better one. I’ll wait.”

or:

b) “Let’s get outta here. Fast!”

I know what my choice would be. And, make no mistake, we are in an ocean liner that is going down, and we don’t have the time to argue about the best way to survive. This economic collapse is no passing phase. It is the Real Thing. It’s not an American recession or even an American Depression. It’s a worldwide economic tsunami. The media seers are wrong to call it a bubble that burst. It’s an ocean-floor volcano, and it has set off a tidal wave.

I won’t abuse your patience by trying to explain how the world’s financial system works, but believe me, America’s economic collapse would bring the global house of cards crashing down. For one thing, the industrial nations established the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency many years ago. So you can imagine what would happen if the greenback went bust.

The bottom line is that Obama cannot sit around philosophizing and debating. He has to do something – and now. I have reservations about some aspects of the stimulus package, and I worry that it may not produce results fast enough. But do I have an alternative to offer? Not one that Congress would pass, that’s for sure!

Let’s get that Obama lifeboat in the water, folks. And pray that it’s good enough to get us to shore – because this old ocean liner has had it.