Douse the Halls With Anti-Psychotics -OR- Speaking Of Turkeys...

As a species we are positively Pavlovian! And the incessant bells sure are ringing! Pack all your troubles in matched Gucci bags and smile smile smile? Nowhere is the affliction more evident than the image/message schism contained in our media diet.
Try to watch serious news. Hell, try to FIND serious news.

Yeah, it's kinda out there. For each and every "serious" news story we get instant interpretation obfuscation of what it all means from people with questionable bonafides; only sometimes pithy insights, colorful allegories and a bushel of "on the other hand" clatter. OR you get absolutely nothing at all; no context, shallow sourcing, dangling, dodgy principi, unconfirmed reports, raw footage of raw sewerage.

Lots of stories about the fiscal battles over government spending. How the congresscritters are gridlocked over how to deal with the crisis. How "we" have to get serious about this budget destroying item or that... This is immediately followed by a) ads for medicare approved suppliers of medical supplies that you can have if you qualify... AT NO COST TO YOU!!!

Important to note in the ongoing saga is that the money that we supposedly do not have is still being spent without alteration of its purpose or destination. Who do you suppose profits from that arrangement? The divvying up continues unabated. How long have we been locked into our present payout process? Shift, Switch and Shaft has been closing the money loop since the implementation of our so-called Great Society programs was hijacked by a mindset that strived for only minimal chance of success. Then, as now, it allowed, without question, due to its stated goals, spending without accountability and an open-ended ability to direct its resources to solutions without problems while actual problems went begging. We paid cash for our addictions, but put our responsibilities on lay-away. Who's minding the store? How are they fundamentally different from junkies and sots? Yet we elevate and esteem the former and demonize the latter for their human weaknesses?

They pretend that it's different, but it's not. They talk about tough choices that aren't really. It IS more important to feel good than to look good. Function always trumps form. Shed of its edifice and adornments, we have a shot. Insisting that the window dressing is essential is self-delusional destructive farce that perpetuates, prolongs, deepens the pits of our despair. If you're breathing clear air, you're standing on piles and piles of equally deserving, productive fellow Americans up to their pates in the offal of your comforts, yet you're told not to look down. You don't want to do that! If you did, you might see where you are and how you got there.