As the whole thing falls apart, as all the pieces and signs and signals are there, as the collapse occurs in slow motion as we watch....how long do we pretend that this is business as usual?
How long do we pretend that it is normal, this, that is happening to us.....and to the world?
How long before all the people who are saying....."um...guys? I think something is wrong here." ...get listened too?
How long before the Serious People fess up that THINGS ARE SPINNING WILDLY OUT OF CONTROL.
How long do we have to wait before they say so?
The Emperor has no clothes is too much of a cliche to be heard anymore. But not only does he have no clothes, he is starting to shed skin.
I mean, seriously....HOW MUCH HAS TO GO WRONG?
What unholy level of disaster do we have to get to before some alleged adult in our odd and twisted national conversation declares that something must be done.
We have struck the iceberg and are taking on water and the rats are deserting the sinking ship at an alarming pace. Come Magical September we will once again be told that everything is fine and that the water filling the hold is just a new swimming pool, a feature not a bug. We shall be regaled with tales of wonderful accomplishments in far off lands, as if we are blindmen listening to a story teller who knows his audience all too well.
We will be told that there is no underlying crime and that family values are so important that the top people in our government must hurry home....practically all at once, to tend to their own clans. We will be informed that the problem lies not with our stars and not with ourselves, but with all those who declare that there is a problem at all. We will be told that everything is OK.
And will nary a Serious Grown Up Person say nay to The Powers That Be? Is there anyone left who CAN say, STOP! and be listened to, or will they too be shouted down...yet again? Who does have to say it? How many have to say it ....before the madness can end. Before something is done to stop the mad plunge into the depths of insanity that we are riding. Are we that desperate for the illusion of stability and security that we cannot admit that our ship of state is sinking? That something must be done?
Or will the Generals stand up and say No, you have broken the Army and Marines and we will not let you break it anymore? Will the broken Iraqi Parliament stand up and say no more...get out? Will the bankers say no more, we cannot keep throwing people into the streets? Will the FBI stand up and say now that Gonzo is gone and before the next stooge is installed it is time to tell the truth about what has happened, so that it can happen no more? Will the CIA stand up and say enough, we will not torture anymore in the name of an incompetent oaf? Will the NSA stand up and say no we will not spy on Americans any longer? Will the Media ever stand up and say we can no longer, with what we know, pretend to objectivity? Or will The Democrats in Congress stand up and say We Will Not Play This Game Anymore?
Who wil stand up to the screaming, tantrumy three year old who is our President and say No More?
No George...what you are doing has not worked for seven years, it is not working now and it will not work in the future, NO....George.
Or do we all just keep on pretending? Keep up the charade of normalcy, the shadow theater of a real functioning competent government that has a clue as to what it is doing? Pretend we are watching a movie and keep our disbelief suspended?
Corruption is rife and pervasive in this criminal conspiracy of a government, and ineptness even more so...and this is NOT a movie. Our government is being destroyed from within, our military being used up to the point of serious future ineffectiveness, people are being thrown out of their homes, NOLA and bridges are crumbling....and dammit....people are being tortured and are dying.
All so we an keep pretending that nothing needs be done, that no ones needs to take the helm, that....indeed....everything is normal, that everything is OK.
Well......it's not.
And sixteen more months is a long, loooong time.