And every day the paper boy brings more. What we are seeing laid out before us, like the entrails of a diseased cadaver, is nothing less than a conspiracy perpetrated by the powerful, of the great offices of State and the representatives of the law against the people of a country that is not run for the benefit of the people but seems to be run for the benefit of shadowy figures with evil intent, of an organisation that is the enemy of the people.
The sinister way in which it does business, by allying itself to those that can increase its profits and smooth the path to its goals, which are usually against the interests of the country, is chilling. Once those most valuable to its aims have been identified, they seek to flatter, coerce, reward, threaten and dominate them until it is hard to know who is running the country any more but we know who is ruining it.
Having suspicions about it, feeling that things have always been this way, the dice so completely loaded in the favour of a virulent cancerous growth in the body of society does not prepare you for the Hi-Def reality, which is even worse than the most cynical had imagined. Viewed through the veil of uncertainty, things appeared as though they might be bad enough. Take the veil away, peek behind the beaded curtain and the full horror is almost too much to take in. Like living in a sewer and suddenly getting your sense of smell back. There were bribes to legislators, to legislate in their favour on matters of tax and regulation. Ceding control of a country for an envelope of cash and promise of rewards to come, or a lack of punishment. Officials suborning themselves for a favour. And The police seem to wait for permission to prosecute from the very people it should be investigating. A criminal organisation allowed to deal out its own retribution where it sees fit and ruin the lives of many for the purpose of maximising its profitability. Acting with impunity.
And now there is a wild, pained look in their eyes, a disbelief that this is happening to them. They are the chosen ones. How can such insignificance be troubling them? Why are small matters such as bribery and extortion, the abuse of power and blackmail and threats and worse, probably much worse, troubling such a colossal and impregnable organisation? This is the stuff that bothers only other, littler people; the sort of thing they could normally have counted on brushing aside. But this time the stink clings. The sense of superior entitlement shaken. Not gone, mind - still a belief that the edifice will withstand it but all great entities must end. The Roman Empire ended, which would not have seemed likely in its pomp. The Berlin Wall came down, which would not have appeared possible a week before it did. This too may fall. But will it?
The problem with trying to fell an organisation that is this evil, is that it has spread it tendrils over society like climbing ivy over an old stone wall. Try to pull the ivy down and a lot of the wall comes with it. It is for this reason that precious little has been done to bring the organisation to account. Too many vested interests. Too many people in positions of power have been made fat on its hand outs, scared by its threats and those few who have dared to speak out have been crushed by its ruthlessness. When an organisation can count the police and elected officials as its co-conspirators it seems impervious to outside attack, imperious even, impermeable and unbreachable. But their tight, tense world was shattered like a dropped vase this week when local support faded away after it emerged that the cancer rates spiked in children around the sites that the Mafia in Italy had dumped toxic waste. Yes, the Mafia - what did you think I was talking about?
Fortunately, we will be kept abreast of any developments by our excellent and trustworthy British newspapers, which we are often told are the best in the world. A claim that makes me feel sorry for the rest of the world.