Sitting glued to my tv the other day, a historical precedent suddenly occurred to me.

I think it was during America's Civil War when the word went out that the Rebels were coming to Washington DC and the North sallied out to drive them back.

Some men and women drove their buggies (I think it's said that there were 16 buggies) out to the hillside above the battlefield to watch the north send the south scampering back whence they came.

Instead, the Northerners fell and the Rebels swarmed forward. At a certain moment, the onlookers divined what was happening and in panic they whipped their horses away to safety.

I'm not sure what the message is here. I just suddenly became aware that I was the onlooker on the hillside.