"Exasperated for sure. It's also getting to be almost comical reading so many opposing opinions out there from supposedly well connected sorts. A bunch of in-the-know guys say the dollar is heading way, way higher and now's the time to buy. Others say the dollar is toast, get out of dollar everything, short it, and only idiots would buy treasuries. Both sides have plenty of stuff to back them up, too. What to do."

Heard and read too often.
Never mind what'Experts' say. Look at the facts for yourselfs.
US has a huge debt.
Prints vast amounts of dollars to maintain stability while financing it's debt and
imports.
Vast amounts of available dollars means easy credit.
Easy credit led to little or shaky collateral on loans.
With a down turn in asset prices many loans became greater than collateral.
Foreclosures, that is what started the collapse.
Tightening of money slows economy.

Are any of these statements not agreeing as you see things?
Trust youself before the experts. Experts are for advice only.

The dollar does go up on occasion But it is mainly due to the workings of the Plunge Protection Team. The net trend over time is down. The fundamentals behind the down trend have not changed and are not likely for quite a while.
If you read comments that are optimistic regarding the dollar then consider them as playing with your mind by the P.P.Team.

Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all.