One thing you can almost always count on: When a major narrative takes over the news, it will be devoid of any sort of useful context. Put another way, when we are saturated with a “mega-problem,” we can be sure that we will not be told the real cause — not if it so happens the US had something to do with it. No, it is always just a new thing to occupy us, to push out other stories, to encourage copious amounts of superficial debate (of the sort that typically rages over spectator sports), that never begins to get at the truth.