The American Catechism Comes To An End

The Rule of Law.

We are a country of laws not men.

No one is above the law.

If you’re of a certain age you can recite those tenets of the American Catechism as easily as drawing breath. I say of a certain age because I’m not sure they drill those fundamentals into the brains of youngsters anymore.

On the one hand, that’s too bad. On the other, maybe not so much. Those truths, never self-evident, weren’t much more than man-made myths anyway. We’ve been mauling those myths since we made them. They’ve always bordered on being a bromide. Meant to comfort. Meant to explain without the need of any real explanation. There’s always been a finger tipping the balance on the scales of justice and Lady Justice has been known to take a peek from under that blindfold now and again.

The magic behind any myth is the buy-in. When the customers aren’t buying anymore, well that leads to bankruptcy, dissolution, or disaster. Unless of course you’re a bank.

“Indications” are that the indcitment of the decaying orange turd is going to turn into the buttressing of our current American pathology as the media rakes in the ratings while spewing out speculation. I’m surprised they aren’t selling ads at Super Bowl rates as I’m sure they’ll follow the decaying orange turd’s plane to NYC like they followed OJ’s Bronco. But there’s not going to be anything resembling what we’ve come to think of as justice in any of this when all is said and done. I’m guessing we’ll see some sort of deal, artful or not, in the name of preserving our sanity for the sake of healing the country.

I know. Try not to laugh at that last part. Tough to heal a country that tore itself in two almost two centuries ago and has reopened those old wounds now that the bandages have been ripped off again.

We’ve accelerated the mauling of the myths and cratering of the catechism. But there’s a silver lining. There’s no longer a need to bend a knee and recite the litanies. Instead use that energy to find one of the increasing number of lawyers who don’t practice all of the supposed rules of their professsion if you get in trouble. Turns out those rules and regs were just myths also.

So many compare favorably our sacred sayings against the clichéd catcalls condeming third-world countries when political fortunes rise and fall. Well now that we’ve dispensed with another of those long held “we’re better than the rest of the world” legacies about the peaceful transfer of power, I’d put us pretty damned close to admission into that thrid-world circle and getting closer every day. We haven’t accepted that “failed peaceful transfer of power” reality and we’re still clinging like kudzu to that myth as we live through its continuing aftermath.

Bottom line. We’ve been had. We’ve let ourselves be had. We used to like that we’ve been had. We used to live with that quite comfortably just like we lived with most other myths and magical sayings that allowed us to sleep at night. Some are pissed off about it. Others are trying to pretend we can return to past like you can return to bed pulling the covers over your head to avoid the day a little longer.

The day is either here or damned near.

And yeah. I’m pissed.

Author: Warner Crocker

I stumble through life as a theatre director and playwright as well as a gadget geek...commenting along the way. Every day I learn something new is a good day, so I share what I find exciting, new, stupid and often worthwhile. View all posts by Warner Crocker