We've all been there; done that... -OR- We Cannot Afford Sacred Cows

I could list several dozens of these surreal animals that enjoy protected status in our current attempts to eat our sins and fight our demons. No Sacred Cow is more important to slaughter than Ronald Wilson Reagan. For me, the rest of the crap is just that. Pure, conjured crap.

Yes, I know I've just committed blasphemy. To be fair, I've been a blasphemer since 1980. I need no sudden epiphany to understand that we dug this hole to please St. Ronnie. That we lost our collective mind and went all in on a four card flush. When the draw didn't go our way, we doubled down. Check, raise, CALL! Oh fuck! Well, maybe we can bluff our way through? Lay the cards down quickly and scoop up the pot before anyone notices? Busted.

Start hocking our resources, win a few small pots, get on a roll and we'll be back Baby! For the children we have to stay, we can't walk away, we can't admit we fucked up. When we get even, we'll walk away, PROMISE!

The other players at the table were only too happy to take our markers. Industrialists, Bankers, Brokers sitting smugly behind their takings started negotiating, all the while telling the poor schmuck to stay in the game. "You'll win it all back; NEXT HAND. C'Mon, you're Ronald Fuckin' Reagan. The HMFIC! One more hand and your shining city on a hill will once again be yours.

We want our taxes cut, we want unrestricted access to any/all resources without interference. In exchange we'll bankroll your campaign and let you play with the Star Wars light saber.

From there it's just tangents. When How long is a generation? 20 years? Was there a torch that was passed? Really? From JFK to BHO, it appears that the transfer has been as much an illusion as everything else. Everything mushed through the Play-dough Fun Factory conforming to plans and specifications dictated by time, tradition and CONTRACT. The last 30 years bound by the terms negotiated at Reagan's poker table.

The timeline doesn't stray much. JFK's truncated transformational politics attempting to reconcile DDE's post-war prophecies, LBJ's uncomfortable elevation to liberal messiah. Finding the contradictions manageable; not actually altering the balance. Passing implementation off to RMH, the power junkie, suddenly allowed to fundamentally design, structure and change the federal bureaucracy, reward the right people and limit the impact of LBJ's "legacy", ushering in the LAW AND ORDER dogma that protected the protected using lesser folk as fodder. GRF having to take over for the clinically and criminally insane and trying, vainly, to call a time-out. Then JEC fighting a valiant but constant obstacle-ridden battle against the fledgling bureaucratic juggernaut. The RWR, himself, cutting the cord and loosing the beast, pretending the growth and consumption were welcome and expected. Declaring victory at every turn and basking in the glow of the cheering throngs.
Oblivious to everything beyond the spotlight and acolytes. GHWB, like LBJ, forced to follow in suit. WJC, faced with the margin call and finding surrender his only course. Then W. Poor, pitiful,hapless W. Surrounded by old school hard-liners installed to complete the transaction, to sign the transfer papers and assure perpetuation of the upper-hand.

Against this backdrop, we have BHO. An epic struggle between past and future. Trying to thread the needle.

It's said one doesn't need solutions to admire the problem. I sit in awe.