Yet when Gordon Brown assumed the leadership of the Labour Party from Tony Blair last weekend, there it was, looming red-white-and-blue behind them as they momentarily gestured towards a hug, then settled on a handshake.War abroad, and worries about terrorism at home, have helped to make public shows of patriotism virtuous.
The bottom looms and there it is, a long reef crevice just wide enough to reach into, and inside, hidden from casual view, a stippled colony of molluscs.
It brings down Triple Crown hopes, as Baffert ruefully recalled yesterday, and it looms out there as the goal for the horse that may eventually win the Triple Crown for the first time since 1978.
However one views the behavior of Bill and Hillary Clinton — and however large the race issue looms in this election, and it looms large — there can be no denying that an awful lot of Mr. Obama's troubles have come from his side of the table.
"The more they see it looming that there might be a change in gun [laws], people buy guns," he said.
And up there, looming over it all is Zynga, social gaming's Ming the Merciless.
It spread from there and looms and bands can now be seen in schools and homes around the UK and US.
And to top it off, there, by coincidence, looming above us, were banners of Jim Henson -- surreal.
"I don't remember a single second of being alive where it didn't seem like there was looming disaster".
And, if we don't get over it, it'll still be there, looming in the future.
