The following was submitted to Kettle Moraine Publications by the author on June 2, 2022 – and we brought it back to the Front page once again on February 13, 2023 – has anything changed? It was submitted at a point of the author ready to give up the fight – a distinct feeling that many of us feel on a daily basis – but thankfully – Charles has NOT given up the fight, and we have chosen to publish the following – just to make a point – and set the records straight – and to Pray God – that we awaken many! ~ Editor

There is a point in every life where nothing is worth the effort it requires to give chase.

I’m there.

I’ve had enough.

I’ve been venting, ranting, and writing about topics I judged worth my effort for about fifteen years. My fervor is dead. I’m fighting too many battles on too many fronts.

I’m picking the battle that is most important to me ~ ME!

I need to heal – physically and emotionally. I am exhausted.

I loved this country as much as anyone could. (Please note I use the past tense here.)

The concept of unrequited comes to mind.

I keep giving, and the country keeps taking – more and more all the time.

I’m not asking for much – a stable, safe, and viable country that protects the citizenry.

If I wanted to live in Venezuela, I’d move there.

We’re not safe anywhere, and all the assholes in charge can do is blame the tools, not the people who misuse them. So please don’t ask Kackles (Kamala Harris) about the root causes.

They don’t want it to change because hatred and disarray work to their advantage.

I just had a conspiratorial thought… Now there’s a first!

What if the government is coercing these individuals into these heinous crimes? It fits the narrative of abolishing the second amendment.

They did it with the 9-11 terrorist attacks in New York. That was an inside job to incite war in Iraquistan and Saudi Arabia.

Remember the Weapons of Mass Distraction. The Shrub (Bush Junior) orchestrated that entire fiasco.

It worked to get us into WWII with the attack on Pearl Harbor. They knew that was coming and did nothing.

Everything going back to The War of Northern Aggression was a government conspiracy.

We’ve murdered presidents, started wars, overturned governments, destroyed economies – ours included – committed democide and mass murders for national interests, interred an entire population of Asians for being Asian, and subjugated a whole race because of their color. We didn’t create the slave trade; we just participated like all the other countries.

Our latest debacle was Wuhan Pandemic which cost the World an estimated $20 Trillion in 2021 – the count continues for 2022, with countless lives and businesses. We will never recover from this, and no one will ever pay for this disaster. Will they, Dr. NostraDumbass?

We celebrate criminals and punish the victim.

The is no justice when criminals are on a ‘catch then release’ program and no cash bail.

Our laws now quantify prosecutable theft in financial terms.

Murder is acceptable because it supports the partisan narrative.

Looting and Rioting are acceptable when labeled peaceful protests.

However, peaceful protests are treasonous offenses, even if the Speaker of the House (the Step Down Beotch!) opened the door and excused the capitol police and national guard.

Borders? We don’t need no stinking borders!

We’ve lost our way.

We discover new ways to blame anything and everything for our blatant disregard for life and our lack of morals and ethics.

Politics is a shield that deflects scrutiny and prosecution, doesn’t it, Hillary?

If you’re rich or in the elite group, you’re immune and untouchable – laws do not apply.

We don’t qualify.

Criminals run the country, and we pay the price.

Bedlam is what the radical left wanted for the past 50 years, and now that they have it – none of them will own it, especially when they see the results. All they can do is blame each other and the situations they created.

America is burning.

The radical left lit the fire, and Bungles the Clown plays Court Jester as the country smolders.

He is The Fool on the Hill!

I’ve honored my oath of enlistment and my promise to defend America, but that America is gone forever. I’m still wrestling with my commitment to America. If the country I served no longer exists, am I still accountable for my promise, my oath?

America will never be what it once was. Politics – the partisan political system – killed my country and my devotion along with it. Instead of a place of pride, I live in disgust of the sinking leader-ship and its misrepresentation.

Every military strategist and competent leader will confirm that there is a time to stop. When the losses are significant and there is no way to win, there is no point in continuing.

I love writing and sharing my point of view. I may continue in a different venue or in another way. These essays and commentaries have obviously not been the way.

I think this anecdote relays my feelings best.

Jane, a reporter, was assigned to interview people in Jerusalem about the continued tensions in the region.

Jane went to the Western Wall in Jerusalem to find an appropriate candidate for the interview. She discovered an old Jewish man named Max, who reportedly prayed at the wall every day for many, many years.

Max agreed to a dialog.

Jane: Thank you for your time, Max. How many years have you been praying at the Western Wall?

Max: I’ve been praying here for over fifty years – every day for fifty years.

Jane: That’s an impressive record – Such devotion and dedication. What do you pray for?

Max: I pray for peace and understanding between all the people in the Middle East and in the World

Jane: After fifty years of prayer – how is it going?

Max: It’s like talking to a fucking wall!

That’s precisely how I feel. I’m talking to a fucking wall!

None of my efforts, insights, comments, recommendations, or observations have made an iota of a difference. None that I can perceive.

Yes, I know it takes time – Rome wasn’t built in a day; it allegedly took 1,229 years. It only took Bungles the Clown 18 months to destroy America. Sorry, my patience is wearing a bit thin. We sat on our patios, fanned the flames, and let this cretin do it.

America persists with the same insanity. We keep doing the same thing expecting the results to change. We cannot fix our problems by using the same processes that created them.

Thank you, Albert Einstein…

I conclude that we don’t really want to change, and for someone that deeply loved this country, it is hard to accept.

We are, however, a representative republic, at least for now.

I accept the decision of the republic – the majority.

I’ll learn to live with my disappointment.

America is like a runaway locomotive (lyrics). There is no way to stop except to crash into an immovable object or run it off the tracks. Either way, it’s a disaster!

That’s where we’re headed as a country.

That’s what I’ve been saying for the past fifteen years.

Our interests are in the events and not in the solutions. As long as we’re entertained, we don’t care.

As long as we’re fed, we don’t care.

As long as there is someone to blame, we don’t care.

As long as there are no personal responsibilities, we don’t care.

That may be your idea of America, but it’s not mine.

The answer to all of life’s questions?

Thanks for all the fish – you effing ass-holes.

February 14, 2023

~ 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; we’re 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.