[perihelions]

- "torched by these vandals"

That's such an apt phrase. It goes back to the time Rome was a great and prosperous civilization, and there was a barbarian tribe–"Vandals" is a proper name–who were incompatible with kind of high civilization, who rode into a weakened Rome and looted various treasures they liked. And torched the rest.

It's an apt language to talk about people who seemingly don't comprehend the value of the institutions America built up over a century, the deep soft power behind them; who see only fistfuls of cash that can be grabbed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Rome_(455)

[throwway120385]

I find it particularly ironic that adherents to Ayn Rand elected a bunch of political looters who don't apparently care about the rule of law.