cluborlov | Since this is the height of the political season, I have decided that it
would make sense for me to say something about politics which, of
course, doesn't matter. And that, obviously, is a political statement.
Last night was the third and final round of what are commonly believed
to be debates involving the two presidential candidates. What was said
is not very interesting or surprising at all, except in one respect: the
two contestants played their role in accordance with a certain
unwritten and unexpressed rule of discourse. This rule requires them to
strictly adhere to a fictional, toy version of the world and of the role
of the President of the US within it. We did not see two candidates
campaigning to be elected into a position of leadership, but two actors
auditioning for the role of President in a play that takes place
strictly in the past. Now, in a normal course of events, if one
candidate started carrying on like that, the other candidate would be a
fool to not try to score points by pointing this fact out to the
electorate. But this situation is different: here, both candidates know
with absolute clarity that they are auditioning for a ceremonial role,
nothing more, and that bringing even the tiniest bit of reality into it
would only jeopardize their chances of being elected.
You see, they are auditioning for the role of someone who pretends to be
“running” a country (whatever that means) that is itself not exactly
running. It is by now defined by just two things: unstoppable inertia in
the wrong direction, and a long list of broken promises. The federal
government over which, if elected, they will pretend to “preside”
(whatever that means) has two remaining choices: continue with the
strategy of hemorrhaging debt and collapse in a few years once that
strategy stops working, or don't continue with that strategy, and
collapse now.
