Our intrepid physicists are just about to give up trying to figure out the universe. It seems that the universe behaves in ways contradictory to accepted science, defying gravity and having mysterious invisible energy driving it to expand like crazy. For lack of a better term they call this force "Dark Energy," like it was some kind of new Star Wars villain. These poor guys are practically in tears that their dream of coming up with a unified theory to explain the whole of creation in one neat little paragraph seems to be getting more and more elusive as their knowledge of the universe increases. They can hardly believe their own eyes.
But seeing's believing, and they're seeing a lot of things go on in outer space that don't jibe with the laws of physics as we know them. Could it be that they were wrong about a whole lot of things? Maybe made way too many assumptions? Wouldn't be unprecedented in any form of human endeavor. When it comes to physics we've always known that there's more than meets the eye going on with the various forces of nature and indeed we've discovered molecules, atoms, neutrons electrons, quarks and antimatter, all sorts of invisible and very active things the rest of us just have to take their word for it that they exist.
They've also figured out by experimentation and observation that there's more elements and energies at work than they are currently aware of and that pisses them off no end. Like the aliens in too many bad science fiction movies say; "Puny humans, you cannot not conquer me!" At least not just yet. Let these people go back to the drawing board and scribble some new equations and come up with some better theories. Like that early physicist William Shakespeare remarked, "The fault lies not with the stars but with men." What is, is, and all the wishing in the world doesn't change that. Throwing tantrums when the universe doesn't go along with your pet theories doesn't get you any closer to the truth.
Meanwhile, back on earth, the Brave New World in which we find ourselves is starting to look familiar again, largely thanks to Vladimir Putin, who singlehandedly is turning Russia back into the old Soviet Union, grabbing power through subterfuge, banning critics of his policies from the media, rattling his nuclear saber and interfering with other nations left and right. What a relief. Our Bogeyman is coming back with a vengeance. In a world where the United States was the only viable superpower we've had the red bullseye on our shirts for a generation now and we've behaved pretty badly, trying to be both the United States and the Soviet Union rolled into one, confusing the hell out of the rest of the world and ourselves too.
Now hopefully we can let the Russians resume their role as the bully on the block while we try to revert to our more familiar role as the champion of freedom and openness. Who knew we'd miss our bogeyman so much and how its presence reinforced our better instincts? And as an added bonus we've got a new South American Mini-Me of the Russians to replace the faded Fidel Castro. His name is Hugo Chavez and he runs Venezuela with the iron fist of a true dictator, this week laying the groundwork for an Iron Curtain-style police state in Venezuela. Hallelujah!
Washington can only rejoice at these developments, a return to the Spy-vs.-Spy Mad Magazine brand of international politics. Say what you will about the Cold War and its creeping dread of nuclear holocaust, but America flourished and thrived under these conditions. Having a diametrically opposite opponent in the global contest for hearts and minds forced us to define what it meant to be America and more often than not we came out on the side of the angels. Being the only superpower on the block brought out the worst in us, and a lot of the things we've done would have brought howls of protest from ourselves in previous decades.
Like the physicists who thought they were on the verge of figuring things out, the reality of life has shown us that we are no more advanced as a people than anybody else on this planet. The only thing America had going for it was our dedication to a set of principles laid down long ago by men who understood human nature quite well, that system of government with its checks and balances on absolute power and a dedication to an open and free society. Without our great bogeyman to show us the difference between our two approaches to statesmanship America foolishly attempted to fill the void by becoming what we once condemned.
Unprovoked wars of aggression, torturing of prisoners, criminally corrupt leadership, the politicalization of science and general news, the demonization of opposing political views, the looting of the national treasury to benefit a wealthy elite, spying on one's own citizens; all these things are the opposite of what America is supposed to stand for. All one can say is; Welcome back Bogeyman, and ditto to the Mini-Me Bogeyman Lite in Venezuela. Now we'll know once again what we stand for and what we stand against. About time.
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