Yup, We Is Dead!

It’s early Thursday morning. I finished my morning tomato juice as I scanned the media feeds. I discovered some interesting opinion pieces (Op-eds) as I wade through the usual intellectual pablum that passes for insight.

Three cups of coffee in, and I’m amazed that the Op-eds are so consistently aligned along party lines. But why would I expect anything other than divisive rhetoric from a system broken by partisan politics?

Yes, America is dead…

We are not the country our founders intended. We’re not even the country our grandparents and parents fought to preserve. We are the country that lied to us about our interests in Korea, Viet Nam, Iraquistan, Ukraine, and all the wars started by the Military Industrial Congressional Complex.

We’ve crossed the Rubicon.

Read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the united States for a perspective of their original intent.

I know very few of you will. I’m being honest. I wouldn’t be writing this commentary if you’d read those two documents regularly and take them to heart.

Sorry, not sorry.

This morning’s sentiments run along expected partisan lines. DemoSocs want Trump executed because he threatens their stranglehold on America, and Conservatives want the country back, conditionally.

Everyone in the middle, not of the two main parties, struggles to untangle the barrage of bovine excrement, searching for threads of sanity.

Unfulfillable promises abound, and no one is accountable for our plight or the hypocrisy.

It’s always the other guy!

I criticize the media extensively for their bias and manipulation of information. I had a realization this morning that surprised me. Even their biased reporting serves a critical purpose if you look at the story from both sides. If there is any truth, it may lie somewhere between or in the combination of the two.

I pondered America’s plight as presented by the individual political partisans’ perspectives; I Looked at the dilemma from the 40,000-foot level and realized that our system has always been broken. Our constitutional republic was never intended to be complete or perfect. It was a workable idea that required in-flight adjustments.

It’s like flying an airplane, driving a car, or even writing a commentary like this. You must be ready to adjust as you proceed.

A constitutional republic thrives on change – stagnation is its enemy. I learned the purpose of the constitution and the amendment process in civics class, but the implications of this concept resurfaced again after nearly sixty-odd years.

Our system of government is not perfect.

It was never designed to be perfect because perfection is unattainable.

The founders understood that it would require flexibility for America to survive the trials and tribulations they knew we’d face. We would be forced to adapt to survive. The only way to make that work is through amendable laws.

A crucial element of these laws is their fair and equitable application. That’s why they included the phrase – all men are created equal… Our adherence to this principle is the basis for everything America was or will be; it’s a goal. Our obligation as citizens and stewards of America is to ensure that it doesn’t wander too far from the original path.

The system was never intended to be used against itself, whereas the constitution is used to defeat itself, and our justice system is used against our system of laws. The founders expected the subsequent leaders to be people of good moral character and ethical stewards for America. They expected us to understand their intent, grasp the concept, and follow their example. But alas: “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” ~ Robert Burns

Right now, America is wandering in the desert, led by conflicting ideologies. If you’re interested, read Exodus in the Bible. It’s the account of divided loyalties and following lousy advice.

I’ve read and studied these lessons multiple times. I often wondered why biblical accounts and history were so important. It all started making sense about 50 years ago when my eyes opened to the lessons falling into place like puzzle pieces.

It is truly remarkable what you can learn by reading.

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” – Plato

The quote by Plato – the philosopher, not Mickey Mouses’ dog – explains our situation succinctly. Americans allowed the evil among our lessers to shanghai America by dividing us along ideological lines. We lost sight of our original direction: the good of the country and that country being all of the people, not an elite few.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

[Read that paragraph again.] Please…

There are 1,337 carefully chosen words in this document called the Declaration of Independence. It is how we became a country. It is why we have the liberty to discuss and disagree with our system of laws, but it doesn’t settle any conflicts arising from discussion and disagreement. It leaves that to us, but as the quote by Plato says, “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

I’ve read that paragraph from the Declaration of Independence several times today. I don’t see anything in there about political partisanship. I continue to see why these patriots took this chance to create a better way of life for EVERYONE, not just a few elite citizens.

But we know better now, don’t we?

We’re so much more intelligent than those antiquated old fogies.

We’re not more intelligent. We have more data points, but where they understood how to correlate the information and make it useful, we are walking information repositories – GIGO – Garbage In Garbage Out. Information is useless unless you can do something with it. We mistakenly equate information with knowledge and knowing with doing.

I appreciate the principle that everyone gains by doing what is in the group’s best interest and that when we’re self-serving, there is only one winner. Both are applicable but in decidedly different circumstances.

This present inclination toward socialism only serves the autocracy. We’ve ceded power to a few seditionists who took America back to pre-independence classism.

So we have two classes; the elite and the workers.

Can you guess to which class you belong?

Hint – it doesn’t begin with an “E.”

The pre-independence classism began further up the hierarchy in America through the political parties. The war between liberals and conservatives is the primary cause of our predicament. One side will do anything to deter the other side from sharing their power.

It reminds me of the primary-school playground battles for the sandbox or volleyball net. There is no sharing. It’s all or nothing. And that’s part of the socialist’s manifesto.

American’s Lost, Faith
This comment distresses me more than anything I’ve ever written. It’s like admitting that there is no Santa Clause to a child, telling dad that you wrecked his car, or watching a comrade die. The pain of that awareness is relatively short-lived, and eventually, you find forgiveness or at least gain some acceptance and maybe a little peace.

What I fear most is that the damage to America is permanent and irrevocable.

How can we ever forget this treachery?

Now that I’ve seen it, I cannot unsee it.

Will I ever trust the DoJ to act responsibly, equitably, reasonably, or legally again?

Will I ever believe my government entirely again?

After a string of continual lies, there is a point where faith fails, and the words and promises are desolate.

Everything we do as Americans are faith-based. We trust that those selected as leaders will do so honorably, ethically, morally, and equitably. We trust that when our Declaration of Independence says “… all men are created equal,” we are equal.

America is undeniably broken. No one is equal if there are indeed classes. Our present situation illustrates the existence of classes; therefore, we cannot be equal.

We are liable for this SNAFU.

The battle is to subjugate the other party. It is all about absolute power. In this war, the only loser is the country because they will destroy everything in pursuit and achieving that goal.

Is there any wonder Americans are so confused and have lost faith in the system?

Justice Antonin Scalia said, “The genius of the American constitutional system is the dispersal of power… Once power is centralized in one person, or one part of the government, a Bill of Rights is just words on paper.”

The question floating through the ether is, “Do we have a two-tiered justice system?“

There are a few hundred examples, and anyone with a media info feed can probably cite chapter and verse for several. It doesn’t matter which side of the political divide you stand on; you know the list.

The simple response is obvious.

Yes, we have a multi-tiered justice system.

What’s being exposed by the latest insanity is that our country’s politics have compromised our constitution, our legal system, and, therefore, America.

To be blunt – this is some real banana republic kinda’ shit; typical of a third-world autocracy.

Every failed authoritarian government started just like this, and every autocratic system died or is in the process. Yes, even China and Russia. The financial demands to maintain control exact a massive toll on the government.

People starve to death so these countries can maintain military superiority. Nothing is more crucial than preserving power and dominance.

America has over 300,000 statutes (laws) on the books. If they want to oppress or control anyone, there is probably a law, a method to do it. Lavrentiy Beria, head of Stalin’s secret police, said: “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.” Russia has nowhere near that number of laws, but they had an elegant constitution that they never followed; it was written in pencil.

Ask the elites and leaders starving their citizens but living in luxury to maintain that power position why they do it.

You should already know the answer.

Guess what?

We’re already there!

$150 Trillion in unfunded debt, and we’re still writing checks on an empty account.

America is dead!

Long live the New Socialist States of North America.

“Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

August 18, 2022

~ The Author ~
Charles R. Dickens was born in 1951, is a veteran of the Vietnam war, for which he volunteered, and the great-great grandson of the noted author, whose name he shares.

He is a fiercely proud American, who still believes this is the greatest country on the planet, with which we’ve lost control and certainly our direction. He grew up in moderate financial surrounding; were not rich by any stretch, but didn’t go hungry – his incredibly hard working father saw to that. As most from that era, he learned about life from his father, whose story would take too long to tell, other than to say that, he is also a fiercely proud American; a WWII and Korean war, veteran Marine.

Charlie was educated in the parochial system which, demanded that you actually learn something, and have capability to retain it before you advance. He attended several universities in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, and chased the goose further to a master’s, and has retained some very definite ideas about education in this country.

In addition, Charlie is a retired blues guitar and vocalist – a musician. This was his therapy career. Nothing brings him as much joy as playing music, and he wishes that he could make a living at it… but alas… life goes on!

That’s Charlie… a proud, opinionated, and passionate American.