Commentary How are things going in Dogpatch, USA? The musical L’il Abner (1940) summed it up in a classic tune, “The Country’s In the Very Best of Hands.” I suppose that is a form of litotes or meiosis, ironically suggesting something by asserting its opposite. There are some real gems in that song. I wonder if Jen Psaki learned her trade from it? Remember when she said that surging prices were “a good thing” because it meant that “more people are buying goods … increasing the demand”? L’il Abner was there before her. “The treasury says the national debt/ Is climbing to the sky/ And government expenditures/ Have never been so high/ It makes a fellow get a/ Gleam of pride within his eye,/ To see how our economy expands/ The country’s in the very best of hands.” Or how about this bit from the end of the song: “Don’t …