Stuck in disconnect mode

There is a serious disconnect between the government of expatriate Asif Zardari and the reality on the ground in the Republic he managed to wheedle into installing him as its head of state. He and his 64 ministers - at least those that utter in public - have divorced themselves from the truth. They are obviously oblivious to what we out here glean from the national and international media about what is actually happening in FATA and more importantly in Swat which is less that 300 kilometres away from where they lounge around in their plush drawing rooms.
The level of disconnect is highly alarming. Even as our information minister was optimistically assuring the public that schools would reopen in Swat on March 1, they were being blown up at random. The point is, will there be any schools left to reopen by that date, either girl's schools or boy's schools which are also the target of bombers? The Taliban just don't want schools, period. Schools do not fit in with their brand of ideology which they are fast establishing.
The NWFP chief minister in total disconnect informed attendees at a local function on January 20 that "in a few days" the nation "will hear good news" about the Swat situation. Just what has happened in the ten days that have elapsed? Countless schools have disappeared from the face of the valley, there has been death and destruction all round.
The government has lost complete control of the district. Its last bastion is the main town of Mingora outside of which it has no presence. And even inside Mingora, the Taliban have managed to sneak in. The town's central square, the 'green chowk' has been renamed 'slaughter chowk' as the Taliban routinely dump bodies there and even conduct public executions.