Can you imagine in our media an item titled: "Sun Sets on U.S. Economy"? Well, it's happened, if only on WEB media. (No intention here to denigrate WEB media, which after all is nowadays our only hope for communication with truth unvarnished by the machinations of our government and the masters of the mainstream.)

Goodness, gracious, sakes alive: can it be that after 28 years a sappy electorate will finally be led to perceive where the sun has been setting, that is ever since they (compulsively against their own best interests) selected as the world's most powerful individual a refugee from class "B" moviedom, more affectionately recalled as Bonzo's adoptive daddy.

Yes, my fellow innocents, it's true: other economies have in fact been on the upward track and their citizens progressively rewarded, while ours is consumed by the "war on terror," the "threat of socialism," and generally the politics of fear, fear of anything that threatens the escalation of scandalous rewards to the (often morally suspect and too often criminal) wealthy at the expense of the other ninety-odd percent of the citizenry, which for the most part have faced off against this rape of our national treasure with complete bafflement or even resentment directed upon the messengers of truth.

But now -- aided by layoffs from their jobs, by eviction from their homes, retirement savings ravaged, tuition for their kids at public universities beyond their means, the cost of their petrol manipulated by the treacherous alliance of the OPEC cartel and Wall Street's futures market, and scows from across the counters as they in imposed shame apply for unemployment compensation, Medicaid, and WIC food packages -- are they perhaps beginning to notice the setting sun, the refutation of the dream taught them in their elementary schools, and the cost of their political naiveté?

More years ago than I care to admit, I was involved in a study of the Japanese "miracle," i.e. how the Japs had so successfully "invaded" our economy, with an emphasis on the automobile industry. One interesting statistic we came upon was, at that time, the average Japanese CEO's salary was 16 times that of his hourly workers', whereas the average American CEO enjoyed a salary ratio of 160 times that of his worker bees -- and yet tenfold re-ratioed over his Japanese peer! More recently the CEO salary ratio in America has risen to an average of 460 times the worker's compensation, and in too many cases over 1000 times.

Has this unconscionable disproportion in reward anything to do where our economy's sun sets? Does the electorate -- consisting mostly of honest working folks and their families -- finally comprehend what is happening, what has happened to them? If indeed they do, how can we explain that 59 million (!) voters (again of mostly honest working families) chose a Republican who would make Reagan appear as combination of John Galbraith and Mother Teresa by comparison?

So now we have a setting sun that (Praise the Lord!) some media finally admit to. We can only hope that honest working folks take note and will be influenced finally to select and instruct public servants who will actually serve the best interests of the people.

Or would that, rather than detection of where the sun now sets, require the appearance of a star in the East?

--Rafe Pilgrim
Orginally appearing in OpEd News