The Long Journey to Our Mistrust
I’m an unabashed, 66-year-old, flag-waving American. That makes me somewhat of a dinosaur in today’s America. I support my country with the understanding that we are neither perfect nor can we control or intervene in every world event that distresses me. But I also recognize there are times we must act in our self-interest.
The Death of Truth didn’t happen overnight. As with COVID-19’s origins, we may never know if the release of the plague (whether the attack on truth or the COVID-19 virus) was an accident or deliberate; we just know it likely happened. Only one in ten Americans trust their government today, down from 77% during the Eisenhower Administration.
Consider how America’s enemies divide us:
A. Democrats enact programs that siphon away independence, creating dependencies. Free Stuff is never free, and Deficit Spending is the chain that binds us as slavery did so long ago.
B. Mass Unrestrained Immigration is a tool of the Devil. Blame Republicans for acquiescing to Democrat’s demands for an Open Border. Invite outsiders in, feed them, house them, and provide medical care, utilities, laundry services, and even phones so that they can encourage others to follow. Like a star in the sky beckoning all to come, Democrats salivate at all the new voters they’ll control one day. Anyone who believes otherwise is a fool. If this policy continued for another ten years, at least 25 million more would have come, maybe a lot more. Who doesn’t understand this? The flow will only diminish when there is no more Free Stuff. That will see the final looting of America commence by a horde of people simply fighting to stay alive.
C. Free speech and free thought face an impending death if we allow it. The Founding Fathers could never have contemplated such. Yet, it is real and presents the most significant impediment to fighting back against the Destroyers. Control of information, Speech, and, importantly, even our associations are threatened as they demonstrate what happens to those that oppose them. Did you know that more people have been arrested for January 6th offenses than those who actually entered the Capital?
D. Property and Personal Rights are the cornerstone of our Republic. While everyone understands that our Personal Rights are under siege, Property Rights are equally important and in the same predicament. My Father always said, “Someone who will take your property will take your life under different circumstances,” as they have demonstrated across our country.
E. We have a government, press, and elected leaders who no longer know how to speak truth. How often have you asked someone a simple yes/no question only to get a non-answer? It seems impossible to hear the truth spoken anymore. Republicans are frequently just as guilty as Democrats. This must stop, and we must all hold “Truth to Power.”
For more than 200 years, America has lived in the light of our constitutionally unique American Democracy. Not perfectly, but generally, we encourage American-style freedoms and Democracy wherever possible. Sadly, only later did we understand not all the world desires our system of values and responsibilities. This is perhaps the most important comeuppance we’ve learned after losing too much life and treasure. (It’s an entirely different article to explain the dichotomy of how we failed to understand this and why everyone is not ready for freedom as we define it.) I accept that millions coming here or those receiving our foreign aid are not actually looking to assimilate or be our friends; they only want what they can get.
That’s where we are in the world. Other countries have some of the same problems, but totalitarian countries, like China, seem to understand human nature better than we do, seeing things from their white/black perspective. For example, they fear the Uyghurs, who represent an internal threat to their authority; therefore, they imprison them, subject them to reprogramming, and worse, despite world outrage.
We must be realistic that the groups and individuals who overrun our open borders frequently won’t assimilate and threaten our sacred pillars of Democracy, Education, and Work ethic. Yet, we allow them to come and subsidize them when they do. This national threat is now understood as suicide, even by some Progressives. Mayor Eric Adams mouthed the words Progressives didn’t want to hear: “Migrant Crisis Will Destroy New York City.” Those same thoughts extend everywhere.
Conservatives like myself have become disenchanted with the Republican Party. No, I’m not joining that other party. Being an Independent does not sit well with me either. I can’t decide where I belong. The Republican Party still espouses many of the vital tenets that resonate with me, but they can’t get their act together, and they too frequently fail when they are in power. They compromise too much. Compromise is acceptable on the margins but not when it comes to core principles. Compromise frequently emerges as the worst possible choice. It also corrupts those doing the compromising. Where is that bright Red Line that we should not cross? I fear we have forgotten that line so long ago that most Republicans have lost their bearings and are adrift. We need clear doctrines to guide us, which can be broadly shared.
Millions of staunch Conservatives/Republicans now question their party’s motives and effectiveness. At a time when we should be coming together, we are more apart. Message Discipline flows from the top.
Today’s Democratic Party is more closely aligned in practice with China than traditional United States values. Democrats pound their members to ensure they stay on message. I don’t believe for a minute that all Democrats are Progressives, but you wouldn’t know it by their voting records. Democrats generally vote in lockstep; Republicans, not dependably. This is how Republicans got so off track and why people like myself are straying off the Reservation. They can’t decide if there’s enough difference between the two. Of course, there is, but our loss of trust for our Republican leaders is profound and will relegate us to insignificance if we don’t get our act together soon.
Democrats threw down the gauntlet decades ago, instituting policies and spending priorities, and are executing a better strategy than Republicans. They are winning. Simply trying to emulate them won’t work. The answer is to understand the damage the Democrats have caused and educate enough people to understand that their best future is to live and act as Conservatives. This is how America was born and arrived at its zenith. Rebuilding trust in our party is job one.
We can’t survive this level of distrust intact. Distrust of our government and leaders will lead us to either a Civil War or a Totalitarian government to keep us in check. All signs point to our government not trusting its citizens and putting programs and laws that restrict our God-given rights into effect.
Will we learn from our mistakes, or will we continue to follow a failed dogma because it is familiar?
Please wake up, America; time is short to change course and snatch victory from defeat.
God Bless America.
The Long Journey to Our Mistrust - American Thinker
