“Red line” was getting cliched. Now clocks tick. Later, they’ll try “one shoe has already dropped” or “our patience is getting even thinner.” As language loses its meaning, insincerity abounds. Can’t remember the poet who said that, or the exact words, so I’ve paraphrased.
Some one needs to photoshop Kerry sitting on a
ticking bomb as he warns the mullah standing a
long ways away, “The clock is ticking, I mean it!”.