Here we go again

We appear to be watching history repeat, as people cheer "it's different this time."

We're witnessing events that are much like others that have played out over and over again. Because what we're witnessing is a people, from top to bottom, who are in deeply entrenched in their denial.

James Howard Kunstler observes:

You can be sure that when a nation is led by the reality-deficient, unhappy outcomes are a sure thing. They will systematically destroy trust in the way things actually work and beat a fast path to either tyranny (where reality doesn't matter) or anarchy (where reality cannot be managed at all). This is what happens when nations go mad. Even when they are led by people later-determined to be "evil" (Hitler, Lenin) this sad process is allowed to happen because it just seems like a good idea at the time - which is the central political tragedy of human history. To the beaten-down Russians, Bolshevism seemed like a good-idea at the time. To the bankrupt, hopeless Germans, Naziism seemed like a good idea.

Raising the debt ceiling over and over - so America, as Obama puts it, can pay its bills - is probably one of the biggest reality-deficiency indicators out there right now. Seeing Americans nod like bobble heads in agreement with the strategy is even scarier.

And when we throw in a government that's amassing unprecedented levels of forces and arms dedicated to "homeland security" while seeking to tear down protections of personal privacy and civil liberties - we've got a real recipe for trouble cooking.

From July 2008: