Warning signs

"In retrospect, the warning signs were there," a concept immortalized by Frank Sinatra in the line "a Monday morning quarterback never lost a game."

We only see the warning signs in retrospect, while they are in front of our noses we don't understand them as warnings. They say that if you place a frog in warm water and turn up the heat gradually, it will not realize it's about to boil to death and will just sit in the water.  On the other hand if you place a frog in hot water, it will immediately jump out.  I've never tested this theory personally, but so they say…

In a tranquil field in what is now Montana a T-Rex looks up from his meal, ruffles his feathers, squawks and squints at a bright light in the sky.  He doesn't know that the bright light is a warning sign that this is his species' last meal. He smooths his feathers and calmly rips another bite of flesh from the dead Triceratops in front of him…. Had the T-Rex been able to look ahead a few days he would have seen the water around him boiling and he would have jumped at the sight of the meteor.

On August 24, 79 AD, Augustus, a prominent resident of Pompeii, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, stood up in his small, windowless, but lavishly decorated bed chamber and stretched his arms over his head. Standing there, he heard a slight commotion from the atrium of the house just outside his room.  He steps out into the atrium to find his wife, son and servants grouped together in the vestibule whispering in hushed tones and looking out of the front door.  Their beloved mount Vesuvius seems to be spewing smoke… Had Augustus been able to look ahead a couple of days, he would have seen the water around him boiling and he would have jumped at the site of that wisp of smoke.

Pride filled Edward John Smith as he stood on the bridge of the Titanic.  The great ship's maiden voyage was a triumph and certainly a feather in his proverbial cap… Well you know the story… Had Captain Smith been able to look ahead a few hours, he would have seen the water around him boiling and he would have jumped at the announcement of possible icebergs in his ship's course.

When German Jews saw legislation after legislation being passed to curtail their rights; when they were required to register and wear an identifying star on their clothes… were individuals able to feel the water getting hotter? Some jumped out, but many didn't.  We simply do not feel the water around us start to boil, we are not able to discern current information from signs of foreboding disaster. We don't see the warning signs until they have passed.

Joe Blow, a regular American citizen gets up in the morning and checks his iPhone for any news he might have missed while consorting with Morpheus. The news feed tells him that Donald Trump has won the Republican nomination and is a candidate for the office of President of the United States of America…