The petulant president
We observe, astonished, as an inexperienced president unleashes adolescent, teleprompted tantrums on national television. We discern the waspish guile in his voice, the half-truths and non-truths contained in his prattle.
We then compare this to a series of reasoned, corroborated rebuttals by a mature, experienced former vice-president whom the media vilifies with the foulest sort of invectives.
Welcome to post-adulthood America and its spawn.
Once upon a time
Children of the 1950s couldn't wait to become adults, couldn't wait to be big, couldn't wait to be a grown-up.
During the 1960s, when they finally did reach the magical age of 18, most of them readily assumed the role of adulthood, leaving childhood behind and donning the cloak of responsibility. Most of them went to war, learned a trade, or opted for college. They embraced the responsibility of citizenship, honesty, honor, dignity, and accountability for one's actions. Most of them.
They honored and respected the ideals of liberty and the accomplishments of those who came before them. Most of them engaged in the challenges faced by their nation and society with a positive perspective based upon faith and the strength of their convictions. Most of them.
But not all.
Disposable accountability
Those who did not, as well as their progeny and the many others they influenced, disposed of such things as honor, respect, and responsibility with no more thought than if they tossed an empty can into a trash bin. They ridiculed spirituality, traditional relationships, American individuality, morality, and the blessing of liberty.
They embraced ideologies opposed to constitutional principles while they shunned accountability for their actions. They demanded things be done for them and demanded they be done immediately.
They rated family cohesion and parenting at the same level of importance as selecting what to eat for lunch. They left children without both parents and their offspring without families or responsible role models. In short, they remained in their adolescence and never transitioned to adulthood.
Blindly groping
Now, two generations down the road, we have a nation that has lost its vision. We have a nation wobbling without the guidance of core values and void of responsible behavior.
We are now a nation of adolescents and adolescent leaders. These adolescents, starting with our inexperienced president, routinely display a fundamental lack of respect for our nation's history, heritage, rule of law, and societal order -- and do so in choleric fashion.
Our leaders today have proven themselves to be immature, petulant, hollow, and untrustworthy.
Let us hope that a few adults remain to us, somewhere, and that they somehow find their way to Washington.