Rory Stewart via Greg Djerejian:

“It’s like they’re coming in and saying to you, ‘I’m going to drive my car off a cliff. Should I or should I not wear a seatbelt?’ And you say, ‘I don’t think you should drive your car off the cliff.’ And they say, ‘No, no, that bit’s already been decided – the question is whether to wear a seatbelt.’ And you say, ‘Well, you might as well wear a seatbelt.’ And then they say, ‘We’ve consulted with policy expert Rory Stewart and he says ...’”

Says it all.

We all saw this coming, right. Zazi is a one-man state-of-siege wet dream for the national security state types, of whom Orahma has become captive.

But you don't have to throw it in our faces, Glenn. Now I have to write more checks to ACLU, EFF, FDL, etc. This shit is getting expensive. OTOH, I'm saving big bucks on Dem politics.

OK so things aren't looking too good on the police state front, but at least we're getting a "robust" public option stalking horse for the communist, Muslim single-payer take-over of our lives. Look out, Granny, Orahma's death panels are coming for you. Oops, maybe not.

But it's all good. Bernbart has got me rolling on the floor splitting a gut. "...because it's balanced!!!!!..." OMG. Too good.

BTW, to foolishly respond to Glenn's rhetorical snark, the military are not active in law enforcement here, yet. That's a ways down the road. Maybe reserves on the Mex border first. Let's see, maybe we could call it a training exercise. Vacation in Mexico? Anything but deployment. Think lobster, pot, slo-o-o-o-owly to a boil.

Anyone heard from Dawn Johnsen lately? Probably staying home, counting the change she can believe in.

Great, important post, Glenn. Very interesting comment thread. It's real, it's growing and it doesn't have to be coherent, reasonable, or rational. It also doesn't have to be about Glenn Beck. Just happens to be at the moment.

"Yes, Beck is a loon. He couldn't pass a sanity test given by G. Gordon Liddy. I'm not sure it matters." Very nice, and precisely true.

Also what CarolynC said.

This is nice, too: "Any government and/or private sector that ignores or denounces the interests of millions upon millions of citizens but accommodates the fears and demands of a severely misinformed and whacked out minority (as we're seeing now with regard to health care "reform") is one that knows there are no consequences for ignoring or denouncing the majority, but fears there will be severe (indeed, terminal) consequences for not accomodating the minority."

E.g. capping Van Jones, or the immediate policy acomodation to Joe Wilson's "concerns."

Is Obama fiddling while Rahm burns Rome, or is he just a nice guy trying to get along?

One, two, three, four

If I had ever been here before

I would probably know just what to do, don't you?

If I had ever been here before on another time around the wheel

I would probably know just how to deal with all of you

And I feel like I've been here before

Feel like I've been here before

And you know it makes me wonder

What's going on down under the ground

Do you know? Don't you wonder

What's going on down under you?

We have all been here before, we have all been here before

We have all been here before, we have all been here before

We have all been here before, we have all been here before

Yeah, yeah, but you're forgetting that the Constitution's just a piece of paper.

And what did Paine write on? Duh, paper.

Case closed. You lose.

"Politics isn't beanbag."

Option 5: Obama just is not constitutionally prepared to play hardball. His upward ascent has been meteoric. It couldn't have happened if the "powers that be" had not been assured, explicitly and implicitly, that he wouldn't change the rules of the game. Giving these assurances was second nature to a man whose life has been the textbook case example of "go along to get along." Even though his personal struggles have been daunting, and his success story inspiring, his success is defined as acceptance into the political, media and power elite. Why would he risk the prize that his life has been dedicated to achieving?

As you point out, anyone who has read his books knew long ago that he may be a progressive by mild intellectual inclination, but that he would never stake his future on any ideal, policy or program. His tragic flaw is believing that the genuine gifts that have paved the way to his incredible and inspiring success are appropriate to engaging in reasoned discourse with opponents who will destroy him at any cost to take power from him.

The discussion about why Glenn keeps trying in this worst of all possible worlds is amusing. True greatness is always misunderstood and underappreciated. There was a lot of it around when we threw King George out and created a country that has been a beacon of freedom and independence. A lot of supremely talented and committed individuals who put it all on the line. Now, not so much.

Great post Glenn. Amazing how you take facts and events that most of us here are familiar with, pile them up, drop a plumbline, and construct a skyscraper.

The thread through rrheard, GG, and Bill Owen was pitch-perfect also. Yeah, it all sucks, but giving up is not an option. So quit whining and wallowing and find a way to contribute. If you have a day job like I do, or, like me, just aren't all that creative, send Jane a couple of bucks. She's better at it than you are anyhow.

LondonLad, you're right, there's no hope. This may be the best time for a counter-independence revolution. That way you guys get your empire back, and we get health care reform. Cheers.