On the imperative to hold that line

At the end of “Revolution 9,” the experimental sound collage that is the penultimate track in the Beatles’ white album, a crowd is chanting “Hold that line! Hold that line!” in what is obviously a sports event of some kind. There’s a flurry of sound, followed by a chant of “Block that kick! Block that kick!” Clearly the opponent has scored a goal or a touchdown, and now the imperative is to prevent the extra point. 

We live in an era where it seems the line is not holding. Fact-checkers d...