#13 Wretchard,

Some fraction of our political class may indeed be suddenly considering that there might be a reality to deal with in 2010, if such is allowed to happen. Most are, however, continuing to enjoy their vacation from that reality.

But, consider the nature of that political class. They have set up a perfect economic and political storm. Every aspect of our lives that they have managed to touch, they have ruined, and if the ruin is not complete now; they are more than eager to redouble their efforts.

They, on the face of it, have two choices. They can reverse themselves really fast, admit they were wrong, and try to undo the damage and take credit for said undoing. Or they can have their collective gluteii maximus, minimus, and medialis handed to them in discrete pieces in 2010.

But actually they have a third choice. If the problem, from their point of view, is the threat of being removed from office; the most satisfactory solution in the long term is to remove the ability of us to remove them from office. Remember, we are not dealing in either party with people and institutions which have any affection for or loyalty to either the Constitution or the rule of law. This will not hold off the economic deluge that is coming. But it will add political chaos as they try to impose their permanent rule. It may be an Enabling Act, it may be a falsified and unconstitutional plebiscite like the one that Buraq’s good buddy Zelayo tried to impose on Honduras.

But in order to avoid the consequences of their actions, they may be triggering a deluge of a different order of magnitude and type. We may end up learning some of the lessons that you had to learn in the Phillipines. It is going to be a harder school than Americans can conceive.

Subotai Bahadur