Wow, some of your big words slowed me down but I muddled through.
It never had a chance of permanence.
My inclination for a while now has been to be ready and waiting on deck at my lifeboat station for the time when the USS Titandenburg slips under the waves in a gigantic fireball.
Odd as this may sound, your use of The Onion article gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, I'm not the only one who thought that.