Where all things are possible . . .
Today's essay ponders what was, what is, and what can be. To cure the Obama regime's national sclerosis requires multiple injections of an old-fashioned but unbeatable miracle cure:
The one thing that no American ever thinks about -- even shudders to think -- is that any president would purposely want to harm the country. In 2009, perhaps for the first time in the Republic's span of 44 presidents, that changed. Once-unthinkable thoughts began to be publicly expressed, and for an obvious reason:
There is simply no rationale, no logical interpretation that can coherently explain why Obama is purposely navigating the ship of state onto the reef of economic ruin. Obama's massive bailouts, payola schemes, nationalization of industries, wealth redistribution, rampant borrowing, tax increases, unimaginable budget increases, and burgeoning debt burden can only be interpreted as a means to advance his rigid collective philosophy and statist ideology.
And all this while 4,100,000 Americans lost their private sector jobs in the brief span of 12 months, record numbers of small businesses failed, tax revenues plunged to their lowest level in 28 years, and public consumption dwindled to a record low. Compound failures of this magnitude cannot be by corruption, chance, or ignorance alone. Rather, our growing malaise appears purposefully contrived, a carefully-concocted recipe.
Why? To ultimately transform America into a diminished society administered by a social-welfare state.
This all passed beyond merely being irresponsible a long while ago. This is madness. And for our nation's and our progeny's sake, it must end. It must be stopped. Soon.
What was
Not too long ago, we Americans believed that the individual was the corner stone of American life. We saw government as a necessary but untrustworthy thread in the fabric of what the entire world came to know as American Exceptionalism. No crisis wasOnce upon a time, personal liberty was cherished by all Americans. insurmountable, no burden too difficult to bear, and no barrier too formidable to breech.
Once upon a time, personal liberty was cherished by all Americans. And although the word is overused or misused today, liberty was considered an integral part of the American existence. Not the liberty where we could do anything with impunity; No, the real personal liberty that afforded us the opportunity to be whomever or whatever we chose to be, to fulfill our God-given potential without government impediment.
We believed that everything was possible, any goal could be attained so long as our abilities, passions, and willingness to work remained unfettered from government intrusion. It didn't matter who our parents were, where they came from, or what they did. Thanks to our unique American liberty, the only concept of its kind in the world, we could touch the stars if we so chose. This is the way it was.
What is
Since Hoover and then Roosevelt, government has grown and has incrementally seeped into every facet of our lives. Each passing year, we became a bit more uncomfortable with ever more restrictions upon and intrusions into our free market, personal wealth, family life, education, workplace, health, leisure, and spirituality. As recently as the millennium, we were desensitized to all of the incremental losses of liberty, much as one gets used to fresh paint after being around it for a while.
But although we grumbled and a growing discontent was always just beneath the surface, we still obeyed the laws, worked hard, paid our taxes, served in the military, and raised our families. We were stillNo living Americans ever experienced a regime that held the Constitution in contempt and thought it "fundamentally flawed." comfortable within the cocoon of our constitutional rights and rule of law. And then came 2009.
No living Americans ever experienced their lives, livlihoods, and everything they believed literally being turned upside down in the span of a few months. No living Americans ever experienced a president and Congress that willfully, imperiously, and consistently ignored the wishes of the people. No living Americans ever experienced a government so detached from or hostile to the people they were elected to represent.
And no living Americans ever experienced a regime that held the Constitution in contempt and thought it "fundamentally flawed," fraudulently obtained office, and discarded the founding principles of the Republic in favor of establishing a statist ideology guaranteed to fail.
We liberty-loving Americans have now experienced such things. Our nation is being destroyed from within, and our discomfort has metastasized into gross frustration and rising anger all across America. We don't want government-run anything and Washington's political elites don't care one whit. This is our state today.
The detachment
There has never been a greater disconnect between the people of our country and the political class than there is today. There is a rising tide of anger sweeping across the land andThere has never been a greater disconnect between the people of our country and the political class than there is today. Obama, the Democrat Congress, and state-run media don't get it -- they don't comprehend.
Every single explanation they come up with is wrong. Every insult they hurl at decent, caring citizens shows it. Every foul name they call us proves it. They are so busy with the socialist transition of America, bankrupting our children, and quashing American liberty that they have become completely detached from the electorate they are supposed to serve.
And that is why tens of millions of everyday people are reacting. People who never before were involved in politics -- who were busy raising families, earning a living, obeying the laws, and paying taxes -- have reached the point where they can no longer mutely stand idle and submissive. They are meeting, marching, demanding accountability, and their numbers are growing. Recent shocking election upsets have proven them to be a powerful force.
But not all within the Democrat Party are blind; A few are resigning, running for cover, or changing their tune. They know a greater reckoning is forthcoming but unfortunately for them and fortunately for America, it is too late to change horses in the middle of the stream.
Shining city yet shines
All freedom-loving Americans believe liberty to be a natural, God-given right for everyone as outlined in our Declaration -- and that includes every person on Earth. All freedom-loving Americans believe in limited government, restricted from impinging upon our liberties as mandated in the Constitution. As a result, America developed into the freest, most prosperous, and most compassionate nation in the history of civilization. All that is now in dire jeopardy.
No nation, no people, and no society throughout its history has done more good for humanity than has the United States. No nation in the history of civilization has stood as theNo nation, no people, and no society throughout its history has done more good for humanity than has the United States. stalwart beacon of freedom, personal liberty, and opportunity in the eyes of the world as has the United States. This, too, is in dire jeopardy. The few sentences you just read are integers of American Exceptionalism. That is what the Washington regime and its special-interest allies hope to change. They want it torn asunder.
Our public political arguments -- Reid, Pelosi, Obama, budget, taxes -- have been reduced to meaningless white noise while state-run media continues to shill for socialism. At this critical juncture, only principles and policies really matter. And state-run media? They are no longer trusted; They have proven their bias and no longer resonate with the vast majority of Americans.
Principles and policies. We as a nation have a choice to make:
Do we Americans want to continue to be that beacon of hope for the world, continue to be an exceptional society where all things are possible? Or do we want a central statist collective, mediocrity, and decline so that we become like everybody else?
No middle ground
If we as a people follow the unprincipled agenda that is being pursued in Washington today we will diminish as a free and prosperous nation. Such governance, over time, has never been successful or self-sustaining for a great nation anywhere in the world. All who tried are now historical footnotes.
The second choice available to us as a nation is to rid Washington and seats of power at the state and local levels of all those who support or are actively pursuing the loss of our personal freedom, our national treasure, and the decline of America.
But this must be accomplished with a binding, principled, yet easily understood alternative rather than simply being anThe verdict on our generation will not be written by us. anti-incumbent jihad. Remember that while they were not even close to being in the same league as Obama and the Democrat Congress, Republicans recently spent their way into debt as well.
There is no middle ground; Our children will either enjoy freedom and prosperity as did their forbears or be relegated to a life of indebted mediocrity.
The verdict on our generation will not be written by us. We must ensure that as did all American generations before us, we rise to the challenge and do what must be done to preserve the constitutional sanctity of the Republic. We must not be cowed into embracing the false promise of collectivism at the expense of our liberty.
What can be
We must instead embrace the principles of our heritage, embrace the exceptional American ideals that made us great. We must remember that the Declaration and the Constitution are not simply wordsWe must remember that the Declaration and the Constitution are not simply words scribbled on paper -- they are the very essence which sustains us as a free and prosperous people. scribbled on paper -- they are the very essence which sustains us as a free and prosperous people.
It is not too late to turn things around economically while at the same time strengthening our freedom to grow. It is not too late to fix what has already been broken or impaired by the statists. But we must do so with alternatives based upon the founding principles of this country, and with direct input from the American people. We Americans must never again allow or be subjected to a tyrannical disconnect from our own government.
We have nine months' preparation to make the right choice. If we do, we can rein in the Obama regime's drive to socialize America and their obsessive spending, mandates, regulation, and political payola. We can begin repairing the road to opportunity so that individuals can fulfill their human potential and enjoy the fruits of their achievements.
If we make the right choice and have the courage to fight for it, we can still secure the distinctly American legacy of leaving the next generation better off. This is what can be.
After all, this is America, where all things are possible.
Hype and Chains.