The lie of a pipe dream is what gives life to the whole misbegotten mad lot of us, drunk or sober."

- Eugene O'Neill, The Iceman Cometh

Voters in the USA live in fantasy and probably always will.  No matter how obvious it is that the U.S. is an oligarchy, not a democracy, the ardent pipe dreams of a new face in the White House go to their heads every four years.

It can only be explained by a combination of intellectual ignorance, the acceptance of propaganda, and the embrace of illusions.

An analogy is apropos. In the small town and vicinity where I live, there are about 10 pot shops where pipe dreams are dispensed. As The Platters sang long ago, "when your heart's on fire, you must realize smoke gets in your eyes."  But few realize it.

Smoke?  What smoke?

Quadrennially, this love affair with the presidential candidates burns hot and heavy despite their records, as if they were heart throbs of stage and screen, straight from Broadway or Hollywood deeply concerned for the public's welfare.

Americans love actors, and the presidential candidates are of course actors, following the directions of the fat cats who produce their shows.  As the grand opening of election day approaches, the supine public is aroused to a fanatical frenzy of excitement from its years'-long sleep by a mass media that spews out drivel to deceive.  It could be said that what the media propagandists digest, the public eats.

Smoke and mirrors never fail as the electorate's favorite billionaire-backed candidates – at this point in 2024 Trump and Kamala Harris (but don't count on it) – spew lie after lie and the mass media faithfully promote the show as if it were an actual contest between good and evil, a grand movie.  The acting is terrible, but the audience is so inflamed they can't tell.