And now, a few words of optimism…

1. If the President demonstrates (in the coming years) that his actual capacities are as low as they currently appear, then perhaps the cult of personality that the 2d half of the 20th century built around the Office of the President will diminish. This would be a good thing.

2. A weak President enhances the relative power of the legislature, and carries with it the potential of a replacement of the eternal adolescents in the Congress with adults. This would be a good thing.

3. The continued demonstration of an incompetent federal government may spark the minds of the citizenry to realize that their state governments may be a better avenue for building their common future. This would be a good thing.

4. Humanity’s rapidly improving mastery of quanta of matter and energy carries with it the potential for an economy that does not rely upon economies of scale. This decentralizing of economies can carry within it the intellectual foundation for a decentralizing of political power. This, too, would be a good thing.

These four propositions are not inevitable, but they are supportable by history and reason.

So, do not lose hope. Those who wield Orwell as a blueprint for the future wield long knives, but they need not be victorious in the battles to come.

Liberty is our birthright, and we need not sell it for a bowl of stew.