Smart rulers (and usurpers) know the power of fear and use it during times of economic crisis to great effect.

Step 1, find a good victim.
Step 2, whip the masses into a lather in order to divert them from asking too many difficult questions about the current rulers, or to make the current rulers look feckless.
Step 3, let the blood wash away our sins.

This is one of the divide and conquer tactics that has been time tested. The Nazi's had their jews, the Aztecs (and Romans) sacrificed humans to appease the gods (and deflect criticism of their own poor economic management).

If our current economic crisis doesn't abate soon, look to our glorious rulers to follow suite.

Completely agree, except for the last sentence. They already have followed suite. It's called Iraq, and Iran is sure to be next if McCain gets what he wants.

Bruiser’s Performance

Vice President Richard Bruiser a celebrated pianist
the Jasper kid who flopped his doctorate
zipped up the Yamaha grand reving it full bore.
He rocked the grapes off the crossbeam

then fell heavily from his high perch

puncturing his beloved biohazard suit.

With blood dripping on the floor & a paranoid growl

he said, ‘go fark yourself!’ & hurled the score

of the grosse fugue by Ludwig Van Beethoven the immortal

at an unsuspecting quartet of foreign dignitaries.

With flare Bruiser stepped up to the footlights

where he took out his running mate
with a personalized version of the celebrated

water boarding technique.

High heels conservative ties academic gowns
& bonnets stampeded immediately.
Fire dancers ripped down the aisles & up the drapes
as that fat old boy turned the burning deck & set

into a spectacular spontaneous pyrotechnic event.

Vice directum dickhead leapt astride Harry’s casket
that accidental hero once sadly impregnated

with friendly fire on an ill fated Texas hunting trip.

Teeth gleaming phoenix eyes squinting

Bruiser immediately became an immortal

& just as impotent as the pope in his pointy red shoes.

He hummed the hymn ‘onward christian soldiers’
as he smiled his triumphant frostyboy smile
whispering hoarsely as he expired into the ears

of jackal axle herself, ‘so this is how it’s done.’

Yeah, damn straight crowsfly! Tennis racket dongle excavators!

I'd say the script is being more closely followed in terms of the villification of "speculators" and CEOs (except for the ones who vote/contribute to the DNC in sufficient numbers, that is) when it comes to the economic troubles. I have yet to see any claim that the subprime and bad debt problems that have led to a total restructuring of Wall Street and the failure of multiple banks have any origins in the middle east, and even the spike in the price of oil was blamed on speculators artificially inflating prices to increase their own profits, although nobody in any position of authority has ever said a peep about house flippers who did exactly the same thing to housing and real estate prices in the bubble markets, largely creating the conditions for the subprime meltdown to even be possible. Similarly CEOs who made 8-figure paydays while their companies crashed are the supposed bad guys now, but the DNC insiders who did exactly that at Fannie and Freddie were very nearly given a pass.

And don't forget that when anything goes wrong in Iranqanistan, it's because of the liberals and the gays and the brown people.

There's plenty of hate to go 'round!

The only problem with that Wrolph, is that our media outlets have had us so saturated with "entertainment" for so long we are already habituated to follow the "leader".

Independent thought, the rights and freedoms we take so dear and near to our way of living, have been diluted and nullified.

Why burn witches in our society, when we can watch vicariously through movies, video games, and other forms of so-called entertainment. I believe the Sociologists have been aware of this theory for years, and they use it effectively!

Our President’s brother, Jeb Bush, is an “advisor” in Lehman Brothers’ private equity group. George Herbert Walker IV, a second cousin of the President, is a managing director at Lehman. William T. Bush, the President’s uncle, was on the board at Engineered Support Systems, a defense contractor which made hundreds of millions of dollars from the Iraq, Afghanastan wars. The Carlyle Group with which the Bush family was connected, did defense contracting. Shouldn’t the MSM report extensively on this?

The Romans did not practice human sacrifice. That is all.