History is replete with examples of empires mounting impressive military campaigns on the cusp of their impending economic collapse.

Warren Buffett pays taxes on a smaller percentage of his billions in income than his cleaning lady.

While history never repeats itself, political patterns do.

The war on terrorism was a bait and switch operation.

Americans continue to suffer from a notoriously short attention span. They get mad as hell with reasonable frequency, but quickly return to their families and sitcoms. Meanwhile, the corporate lobbies stay right where they are, outlasting all the populist hysteria.

More and more, Democrats are starting to worry they that they have a more um, colorful version of Jimmy Carter on their hands. Obama acts cool as a proverbial cucumber but that awful '70s show seems frightfully close to a rerun.

To become informed and hold government accountable, the general public needs to obtain news that is comprehensive yet interesting and understandable, that conveys facts and outcomes, not cosmetic images and airy promises. But that is not what the public demands.