“Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?” M. CICERONIS TULLI ORATIO IN L. CATILINAM PRIMA

What has happened here is rather obvious. It’s been slow, incremental, glacial. The public’s habituated, humiliated and chastened. Slapped and cajoled, conned and convinced . . . told that news isn’t to be true or real or even factual. Shite happens, Sparky. What are you getting upset over? What’s the big deal? Perhaps it’s a generational thing. We dinosaurs remember a time when the idea of a Cronkite getting shitfaced on New Year’s Eve whilst simultaneously pierced made our souls quiver and quake. And throw in the horrid Washington Compost for good measure. No, this isn’t an accident or happenstance. It’s deliberate, targeted and by design. Enjoy.