News cycles

Perhaps scholars will one-day wonder why Americans didn't force the resignation of president Bush. They surely will wonder how the Messiah of blunder could blunder and plunder at will. Perhaps they'll scratch their heads as they count the dead, or guffaw at the laws that were broken?

Surely news cycles like this one, where evidence points out that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales perjured himself before Congress, while the AP reports that the Iraq government has missed all political targets, will confound them.

"They had free speech, the right to assemble, the right to bear arms, and mass communication! They had a UN to serve as a brake! They had Congress, an independent branch of government with authority of the purse! They had a free press to examine false statements and shine the light of Truth!", they might exclaim.

And if they could travel back in time, these historical scholars, what would we tell them?

I might tell them the president was too much of a coward to walk among Americans as if they were Albanians. I might tell them about "free speech zones", "Patriot Acts", "loyalty oaths", "Paris Hilton", and "shoppnig malls". I might tell them about "unseen marches" and "unheard protests" and "Rupert Murdoch". I might tell them about "security alerts" and "Rove" and "Coulter" and "neocons".

In the end I'd tell them all the world's not a stage, but mostly reserved seating, and "reality shows" are not particapatory.