(David Byrne of the famed art band “Talking Heads.)

And You May Find Yourself Living In A Shotgun Shack
And You May Find Yourself In Another Part Of The World
And You May Find Yourself Behind The Wheel Of A Large Automobile
And You May Find Yourself In A Beautiful House, With A Beautiful Wife
And You May Ask Yourself-Well…How Did I Get Here?

Ya know, I have not heard a lot about David Byrne and Talking Heads lately. Must be on hiatus of some sort, I imagine. The Talkingeads, writ large, the air-dried version who have every wrong answer it is possible to harbor, are in their element. I think the endless fratricide of the campaign has entered strange new turf as Mr. Aexelrod turns his spotlight on Mr. Romney’s time at the helm of the State of Massachusetts as Governor, perforce a moderate turn on the stage, since Blue Boston will always edge the Red mass of the rest of the state.

A reasoned consideration of how the Mittster did as an elected official in a fiercely divided partisan state is worth noting, I suppose, though I am curious why the Administration is holding up their elected record against his- it is about the same duration as their opponent, and Mr. Romney also actually had an other job or two in the private sector along the way.

The maturity level of the discussion was reported as being two howling mobs yesterday, so I am comforted that we will discuss nothing with any precision as we lurch through this phase of the campaign. Funny, though, I don’t think it matters much, and the Talking Heads are not…well….talking about what is going on elsewhere.

If I was not being summoned back to Bethesda this morning for an evaluation of the (hopefully) mending limb, I would have more to say on the major topic that no one is talking about.

Here is what we are likely to be talking about, and soon. It is about Syria at the moment, though talking about Syria is (of course) really talking about something else.

Here it goes, with your English muffin and coffee this morning:

Syrian crisis in shorthand: “Innocents slaughtered by fascist regime.”

Executive summary: Opposition in Syria is Saudi backed. Syria has a Sunni flavored majority population.
Asad Government is backed by Iran/Russia/China- union of authoritarian states and Shia expansionists.

Dramatis Personae: Saudis: Theological guardians of the Sunni branch of Islam, opposed to apostate Shia branch. Strongly opposed to Iranian nuclear program. Vows to get the Sunni Bomb (Pakistan proxy nuclear program was already bankrolled and will make this easy) to counter Iranian atomic capability.

US: reluctant to get sucked into Sunni-Shia clash. Elections looming. Reluctantly “Has Israel’s back.” Hates the position.

Israel: Convinced that the Shia bomb could be the end of the Jewish State. Must act.

Russia: Putin is back and itching to assert himself. Medvedev government only a placeholder.

PRC: Anything to further the Middle Kingdom’s rise. Major player behind the scenes.

Outlook: Saudis continue to fund opposition. Israel perceives time is short to de-rail Iranian bomb. Pressure to act before US Elections.
Unilateral action by IDF will bring in Americans? Wild card.

Nuclear-armed states involved: US, RU, PRC, IS, Pakistan. Iran moving closer to becoming one.

This, Gentle Readers, might be the topic of our summer discussion. It will likely trump the unemployment rate, sluggish recovery, and US domestic social issues.

Maybe we can talk more about this in the future? I dunno. I have to head for Building 19 at Walter Reed and talk about something else.

Letting The Days Go By/Let The Water Hold Me Down
Letting The Days Go By/Water Flowing Underground
Into The Blue Again/After The Money’s Gone
Once In A Lifetime/Water Flowing Underground.

And You May Ask Yourself
How Do I Work This?
And You May Ask Yourself
Where Is That Large Automobile?
And You May Tell Yourself
This Is Not My Beautiful House!
And You May Tell Yourself
This Is Not My Beautiful Wife!

Letting The Days Go By/Let The Water Hold Me Down
Letting The Days Go By/Water Flowing Underground
Into The Blue Again/After The Money’s Gone
Once In A Lifetime/Water Flowing Underground.

Same As It Ever Was…Same As It Ever Was…Same As It Ever Was…
Same As It Ever Was…Same As It Ever Was…Same As It Ever Was…
Same As It Ever Was…Same As It Ever Was…

– Same As It Ever Was, lyrics copyright 1986 Talking Heads/EMI

Copyright 2012 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com