GREENFIELD: And another thing. You know how bad it sounds when somebody says, "I told you so?" You know how good it feels when it's you that gets to say it? Okay. Nearly 20 years ago, during the holiday season, when I was writing a widely -- okay, narrowly -- syndicated newspaper column, I once wrote about how dangerous it would be if people took seriously all the criticism about the orgy of shopping and buying and commercialism. Think about it, I argued. If everyone stopped buying gifts, whole sectors of the American economy would collapse. Apparel, electronics, liquor and wine, toys. The whole retail underpinnings of our economy. Abandon commercialism, I opined -- that's a word you don't hear enough, by the way -- and you plunge the nation into doom. I took a lot of heat for that view. And now what? Now, you've got the president, himself, telling us to whip out those credit cards, hit the malls, empty the stores. Armies of experts are watching the cash registers every day to find out if we citizens have been loyal enough, patriotic enough to spend our way the economic health. Urge Americans to embrace the true meaning to the season, it seems, and you are, unwittingly, giving aid and comfort to our enemies. I told you so. I'm Jeff Greenfield. Thanks for watching. Lou Dobbs "MONEYLINE" is next.
I Told You So: Christmas Shopping and Patriotism