When your political mind is the scene of the crime

Well, salaried columnists have to write about something. So, why not leap beyond the proverbial pale as the estimable David Ignatius seemed to do today? Yes, friends, the "dizzying falls in financial markets, and the failure of political institutions to solve problems" could mean that American democracy is teetering on the brink of total collapse. Cue the horror music and requisite female scream. OK, I exaggerate a trifle. "Think of our political-economic system as a top that has been knocked off balance: Rather than coming back to its center point, it has been wobbling ever more. Staying within our analogy, this is because the top has lost some of its spin. It’s less dynamic and adaptive ... The scariest aspect of the current political-economic crisis is that it tests this faith in democratic governance. The political systems in the United States and Europe have proved unable over the past year to solve crucial financial problems. The political system has been no more self-regulating than the economic," Ignatius writes thoughtfully. As usual, he's not necessarily wrong as he plants this "inception." The question is whether we're actually in a two-level "dream within a dream," awaiting the "kick." And is Ignatius' spinning top our totem? (Is your mind blown yet? Mine is. And has been for some time.)