Something Rotten in Denmark

Some of you who’ve been reading my posts since this bin Laden thing happened are surely scratching your heads. Believe me; I’ve taken note of the many cold shoulders. A while back, I wrote a piece on assumptions; saying, that all our beliefs rest on assumptions, and that these assumptions rest on (other) assumptions as well, and so on…

The truth is, I don’t know what happened and how, and who was involved and who wasn’t. People, especially those who make it their business to comment on events, do not like to admit that they don’t know anything; for if they don’t know, why take the chance of being wrong and looking foolish? So, we base our evaluations and predictions on what we might call ‘core assumptions’. But even those, under certain circumstances, can come into question.

Hardly anybody (except maybe the Japanese) expects the earth to suddenly start moving underfoot. Nobody here expects America to end. And, until a relatively short time ago, everybody held science in high regard, especially with respect to scientific pronouncements about ‘global warming’. When things happen to challenge ‘core assumptions’, however, people become uncomfortable. They begin shifting around in their seats, contemplating a bathroom break.

Since Obama’s election, this has begun happening to more and more people. There have always been certain assumptions that have gone along with our concept of the American presidency. As time went by, it became increasingly difficult to square these with what we were seeing. Some came to wonder whether we were witnessing the greatest hoax ever perpetuated on the American people.

We tried, in our own small, measured way, to catch someone’s attention. Our telephone calls and e-mails, our marches on Washington, our confrontations at town hall meetings, our votes - all was summarily brushed off; ignored. Now we are being told that Obama could win again in 2012.

Meanwhile, the economy is not coming back; our jobs are not coming back; everything is getting more and more expensive. Some of us are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. We’ve been told that we have found and killed Osama bin Laden. On the very same day the office of Homeland Security elevates the terror threat to Americans worldwide. What gives?

None of us wants to believe that our president is actually working against us. It’s easier for us to see him as a bumbler who can be removed with due diligence in 2012. This, again, is our assumption. We also assume that we can keep it together till that day arrives.

All this was yet true under Bush. I’ve made it no secret that I prefer Bush to Obama. Though, I will admit, that looking at the whole thing as a continuum, Bush made Obama possible.

It could be that Bush too was snookered. Then, why is he keeping quiet and not saying anything? If anybody knows something, it could only be Bush. Is he even free to speak? I have already said that his refusal to appear with Obama in New York City today speaks volumes – and it’s not what the media says it is.

Enough has happened to prompt me into digging deep down into my assumptions. All I can come up with is that I just don’t know - and you don't either. But something smells awfully rotten in Denmark.

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