America's Tooth Trouble

With the elections finally over, I must say that I have felt a sense of relief, in spite of our new Socialist leadership. This feeling is hard to explain, but I'll give it a shot...
It is sort of like having a throbbing, aching toothache day in and day out for months on end. Every time you wake up, it is there - when you lay down to sleep, it is there, nagging at your senses. All you can think of is that annoying, painful tooth. It permeates every aspect of your life; sometimes going as far as to wake you up from your restless sleep... providing you ever get to sleep in the first place.
One day, you make it to the long awaited dentist appointment. You know that there is going to be a lot of pain on that day. You dread it, while at the same time, you know it is necessary.
Upon entering the dentist's office, you are told that you are going to have the tooth pulled.
"Pull it" you say, knowing that it will hurt even more, but it is necessary.

This is where our analogy takes a turn.

While pulling the tooth, you begin to sense a smidgen of relief... then the tooth breaks off. It is terribly painful, and the dentist will have to dig into your gum and jaw to remove it, but he finally gets it out, with much unnecessary pain.
Sweet relief, but just for a moment.

Here's where we are right now - sweet relief that the appointment is finally over. All of the flashy "painless dentistry" advertisements and other lies are off the shelf for another two or three years. Then the dentist calls you up and tells you that there is some bad news. It seems that though you are free of the bad tooth pain, there is a new problem. While extracting the nuisance of a tooth, the process of removal accidentally allowed a nasty infection into your mouth. You won't feel any pain for a while; in fact you will feel pretty good for a few months, but the good feeling is going to be short lived.

This particular infection has a nasty habit of spreading into every other vital system that sustains the life of your body. Is it a cancer? "Not yet," he says. "But it will be if you don't do something about it. This infection is detrimental to every other vital organ in your body. It will slowly kill you from the inside. It will be totally painless... at first. When it finally starts to consume you, it will hurt everywhere. You will end up a stinking, rotting corpse; just an emaciated, hallow shell of what you once were."

...and your next dentist appointment isn't for another four years.