RADIO REVIEW:THE WEEK STARTED with an appearance by Joe Duffy on The Tubridy Show (RTÉ Radio One, weekdays) to plug his appearance on RTÉ 1's Who Do You Think You Are? Tubridy asked Duffy about last week's Liveline (RTÉ Radio One, weekdays) featuring worried customers taking their cash deposits out of banks.
Tubridy asked him, "Did you cause the Great Depression of 2008?" (The RTÉ journalist as the story.) No, but it caused Brian Lenihan to lodge a complaint with RTÉ's Director General. Duffy's inadequate line was: "People can listen to the programme themselves and judge it." There was no attempt to stand over it.
He said, "One thing my mother always told me is never lose the run of yourself, you're never as good as the papers say you are and never as bad as the papers say you are."
Since Mother Montrose is the stage mom from hell, and it's all about the cultivating the star, Joe didn't tackle the issue. Instead, he talked about himself.
Last week's callers were like children lost in the dark. They wanted the State to protect them. It was another good excuse to have Uncle Joe take them by the hand. This time, it was money. Next week, it will be something else. All they wanted was to have their hurt recognised and maybe a kiss to make it better.
A different approach was taken by Neal Conan on Talk of the Nation (NPR.org, weekdays). He asked if human greed was at the root of the economic crisis. Was that some kind of trick question? He also asked something you'd be hard pressed to hear on Liveline: "Is Main Street just as culpable as Wall Street?"
Michael Bolden from the Washington Post Magazine spoke about his "greed" in trying to parlay the value of his home, which doubled in value to $500,000 in four years, into a dream house. His dream turned into a nightmare - how'd you guess? - when the buyer of his first home pulled out three days before closing.
Bolden said he made an "emotional decision", signing off on two mortgages, with terms that he'd never seen before, and with an appraisal on his new home that overvalued the house. He was caught up in the frenzy: "If we went to a dinner party, we talked about our unbelievable fortune to see our property double." Jim Wallis, founder and President of Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace, said, "This has been a morality play. CEOs should be paraded down Wall Street in sack cloth and ashes." He called for a 10 per cent tithe of any $700 billion US bailout to keep low income people in their homes. Now, that's a plan.
However, Russell Roberts, economics professor at George Mason University, said common good is part of the problem, not the solution. He said the US congress encouraged the sub-prime loan business to house low income families. "It was a good cause," he said, adding, "But we are going to end up paying for them."
"Self-interest is not just what makes us human, it's what makes us great," Roberts said. "The challenge is to keep that self-interest from harming others."
They sang from different hymn sheets, all with valuable economic/religious philosophies. Alas, if only An Béal Bocht could grasp the alien concept of shared responsibility.
Pity poor Martin Mansergh, Minister of State for the Office of Public Works, who was dodging that concept. He was wheeled out on Tuesday's The Last Word (Today FM, weekdays) to discuss concrete front gardens. He spoke loftily of individual desires (concrete) versus public good (green lawns).
Cooper was all over it. "Don't you need to practise what you preach?" he said, referring both to the Leinster House car park and glass tuck shop built at the gates, which is only 40 square metres, but cost over €1 million. "It used to be a massive green space," Cooper said. "Will you commit to rescinding that?"
If Mansergh's moral high ground was paved with chocolate and lined with candy trees with bonbons, it was now melting fast. "I used public transport today," he said. That's always a good idea when you're going on the radio. He also said there was a plan to restore the Leinster House car park to its former green glory.
On the shop, Mansergh said, "I was very surprised by the cost of it." When it's your own party, surprise is far better emotion than outrage. "Will heads roll?" Cooper asked. "Were you not angry and shocked and straight off with their heads?"
Mansergh said he is not into the "Queen of Hearts" way of doing things.
On a happy endnote, the "Odd One Out" quiz on Wednesday's The Ray D'Arcy Show (Today FM, weekdays) was a laugh. They were looking for women who had dyed their hair blonde to take part because of a survey that said blondes have more fun and are more adventurous in the bedroom. Jean called in to play.
"Mary Harney? Mary Hanafin? Mary Coughlan?" Ray said. "Mary Harney!" Jean said as the other two are blondes. She eventually scored a very high 10 points.
"Do you find you're more adventurous?" Ray asked her, citing the survey. Jean paused. "Well," she replied, "I recently changed the curtains in the bedroom."
qfottrell@irish-times.ie