Maybe Phil Gramm is right…

…and we are indeed a nation of whiners.

How else could the venerable Washington Post look around for victims of the “economic crisis” and only come up with 1. a retired 64-year-old who is so worried about health care costs that she has to “force” herself to use her gym membership every day, 2. a chain-smoking market-playing 58-year-old who might have to give up on his dream of buying a farm in Iceland (”Like most Americans, he’s carrying more debt than he’d like and he started saving for retirement late…”), 3. a 45-year-old who decided to get serious about retirement earlier this year, stashing 50 bucks in a 401(k), 4. a wealthy dentist with three kids in college and a fourth soon to be, and (my favorite) 5. a Botox doctor who won’t be able to open three new clinics this year?

I don’t mean to pick on anyone (except the Post), but 1. being retired at 64 and having a likely-not-free gym membership does not a victim make, 2. not being able to buy a farm in Iceland (where you probably can’t smoke anyway) does not a victim make, 3. 45 is a bit out there into life to start saving for the future, 4. Barack Obama doesn’t think you should be punished with four children to begin with, and 5. the future of our economy will not rely on Botox clinic revenue, I hope.

I don’t know. This post is mean-spirited. But there are real victims of this “crisis” out there, even if they’re too busy trying to make ends meet to sit down for a chat with the WaPo.