Lost in the Ozone Again

Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen“These are the times that try men’s souls.” So said Thomas Paine in his 1776-1783 newsletter by the name of “The American Crisis.” Indeed, little did he know how that phrase would have just as much applicability centuries later. We aren’t engaged in a life or death revolt against the Brits, but we sure as hell are girding our loins for a fight to restore the foundation of the house that was the United States; a structure barely recognizable today. 

The whole country is caught up in a Trumpian moment; so much so that few people bother to marvel at the fact that an avowed socialist is giving Hillary a run for her (large sum of) money. How many of you remember one of the rockabilly bands that put Austin on the map and became a cornerstone of the Austin City Limits music movement?  (Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen)  were lost in the ozone, and folks, so are we.

We have a generation (or two) of Americans (voting age 18-40) who feel disenfranchised. Astonishingly, when they listen to Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump, they are not horrified. There are any number of reasons for this generational divide, but I suggest one of them is captured in my earlier blog College Education Run Amok. Think about it. We have seen the onslaught of progressive liberal brainwashing in our schools and colleges for a minimum of the past two decades. So why should we be surprised if Americans in their twenties and thirties think capitalism is a dirty word? The Berlin wall came down in 1990. Most of these kids don’t even know what evil was represented behind that wall. They didn’t grow up in a world where democracy and capitalism were inextricably intertwined, and tied just as inseparably to better lives lived. History is a long line of repetition. Alas, we are coming full circle on a straight line to a point where two generations of Americans find the lure of socialism to be a desired outcome. Lord help us.

If we take this explanation for the seemingly imponderable rise of socialist populism in the US as a credible theory, then we don’t have to go too far to see that by combining it with the reality of a large segment of the American population that feels disenfranchised and left behind, we are led directly to where we find ourselves today: Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. We have not only arrived at the doorstep to the Brave New World, my friends, but we have crossed the threshold. 

Between now and March 2, we will witness caucus and primary events in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Caroline, Nevada, and then a swath of southern states in the so-called Super Tuesday event. If the pollsters are correct, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will emerge on March 2nd as the run-away leaders of their respective primary campaigns. Once again, Lord help us. 

I remain skeptical; I think the pollsters are missing the plot. But in the not too distant future, I will either be proven right, or dead wrong!

In 2012 I made the case that we stood at a tipping point where four more years of Obama could push us irretrievably down into a national death spiral. We are in that spiral now; executive orders have routinely circumvented the Constitution. Liberal federal judges now populate the bench from coast to coast; subverting our Constitution, (a document most of them see as an anachronism) and making new law is their agenda. Black Lives Matter protestors call for death to police and the President of the United States refuses to condemn their rhetoric. Instead, he says “…change takes time.” It is important to understand that this President meant to change this country from day one of his time in office. His is a community agitator/activist agenda. All one has to do is look at what he has said and done for over 7 years. I have been crystal clear since this blog began; President Obama may love the United States, but he does not love the United States I love, and he has done everything in his power to destroy it. 

So yes, we were pushed past the tipping point in 2012. We are most assuredly lost in the ozone again. So now the question is whether or not we can muster enough courage to stop the downward flow into the abyss of European mediocrity. America, do you really think Donald Trump is the person with the skills to help us start climbing back up to re-attain our position as “The Shining City upon the Hill?” (if you have never watched President Reagan’s last remarks from the Oval Office, I recommend you do so now.) 

In the next month, many of you will begin to decide. Good luck.

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