But it's not like they've ever tried to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. They just lie about the fact that he's broken. The question is thus whether it will now be so crushingly obvious that he's broken that they can't deny it anymore? I would not assume that from the outset.

And even if they can no longer (credibly) claim that there is no problem, they can still claim that competition is magic and will automatically solve the problem that doesn't exist, or they can try to sow doubt and spread confusion. In other words, even if the first hand of denialist cards no longer plays well, they still have some three or four hands to go, where they can pull off a victory or at least delay their defeat.

This is not the beginning of the end. At most, it is the end of the beginning.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.