I have been carefully watching our nation evolve over the past two decades, as it has morphed into something unrecognizable, becoming more tyrannical with each passing day, month and year, regardless of whether or not it’s the Democratic Party or the Republican Party holding the reins of power.

And nothing much is changing under President Trump who has only succeeded in proving my assertions from 2016, that he is indeed a Big Spending, Big Government Dyed-in-the-Wool Old-Style Yellow Dog Democrat or simply a New York liberal without any core convictions, when it comes to Americans’ Inalienable God-given Rights and the Bill of Rights and defending them. Oh, he’ll certainly defend them for himself, when he is under attack, but he certainly doesn’t mind trampling on them for the rest of us, especially when there are trillions of dollars at stake.

In many ways, Trump has been a fine president for some conservative causes, but more often than not, he has taken on the appearance of a godsend for whoever the next takes the Oval Office for the Democrat Party Communists.

The following basically skims the surface of what America faces and where we are headed. I hope it resonates with many. ~ J.O.S.

America’s Liberty On the Brink

America stands at a precipice – not merely divided, but chasmically torn. The ideological fault lines have ruptured beneath our feet, leaving the Republic teetering in the balance. This is not the ordinary friction of spirited discourse between left and right. It is a war of cultural absolutes, a battle between irreconcilable visions for the future of the United States – a contest pitting constitutional fidelity against the siren call of collectivist transformation.

The enemy is no longer foreign; it is embedded in the institutions meant to defend liberty. Across universities, bureaucracies, corporate boardrooms, and even within the halls of Congress, the truth is under siege. Free speech is redefined, parental rights are disregarded, and economic freedom is encumbered by strangling regulation. Every attempt to preserve traditional American values is met with accusations of intolerance, extremism, or worse.

But the erosion of liberty is not confined to cultural battlegrounds. It is now codified into law, disguised as security, and sold to the public as progress. The REAL ID Act, set to be enforced nationwide, is a chilling example. Originally conceived in the wake of 9/11, it was marketed as a tool to prevent terrorism. But its implementation has morphed into something far more insidious: a federalized identification regime that undermines the very freedom it claims to protect.

The greatest concern is not how REAL ID affects foreign nationals or illegal aliens – it’s how it targets natural free-born American citizens. The right to travel freely within one’s own country is not a privilege to be granted by bureaucrats – it is a birthright. Yet under REAL ID, Americans must present federally approved identification to board domestic flights or enter federal facilities. This transforms liberty into a conditional favor. It centralizes personal data, opens the door to surveillance, and creates a framework where movement, access, and autonomy are subject to government discretion.

In the matter of national or statewide elections, we should all be able to agree that a simple driver’s license identification that matches a voter registration is enough and just fine.

Meanwhile, the same government, in terms of the Court and Congress, e.g. activist judges, representatives and senators, that seeks to regulate its citizens to the teeth refuses to enforce its own immigration laws. Let’s be clear: it is lawful and constitutional to target illegal aliens for removal. That is not cruelty – it is the enforcement of sovereignty. A nation without borders is not a nation. The refusal to deport those who violate our laws is not compassion – it is betrayal. And the consequences are felt in overwhelmed hospitals, strained schools, and communities where lawlessness festers.

From the southern border crisis to the erosion of law and order in once-great cities, we witness not unfortunate trends but orchestrated chaos. A republic cannot endure when elected officials refuse to enforce its laws or protect its sovereignty. It cannot survive when self-loathing masquerades as moral virtue and patriotism is smeared as hate.

Still, amid the darkness, the spirit of the Founders stirs. There is resistance. There is refusal. A quiet revolution brews – not of violence for its own sake, but of righteous indignation. Citizens are awake. They see through the lies peddled by media conglomerates and partisan ideologues. The power of the people – armed not just with firearms but with truth, resolve, and memory – remains the last check against tyranny.

And let’s not shy away from truth: hatred is not inherently wrong. To hate evil is to love good. To hate tyranny is to love liberty. When enemies – foreign or domestic – hate you, seek your destruction, mock your values, and undermine your nation, it is not weakness to hate them in return. It is clarity. It is survival. The Founders did not win independence by loving their oppressors. They recognized that peaceful solutions had failed, and that violence was not only justified – it was necessary.

Tyranny today wears a digital mask. It speaks in algorithms and encodes its will in lines of code. Artificial Intelligence, once hailed as the frontier of innovation, now threatens to become the architecture of control. President Trump’s recent Executive Order on AI, titled Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence, marks a dramatic shift in national policy. It rescinds the previous administration’s safeguards and replaces them with a framework focused on deregulation and rapid deployment.

On the surface, this may appear as a victory for innovation. But beneath the rhetoric lies a troubling paradox. While President Trump has publicly criticized Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), calling them “very dangerous” and pledging to block the creation of a “digital dollar,” his AI policy inadvertently lays the groundwork for the very infrastructure that could enable such a system.

AI-driven financial technologies, combined with digital identification systems like REAL ID, create the perfect storm for a cashless society. The same algorithms that optimize banking can also monitor transactions, enforce compliance, and restrict access. The same digital IDs that verify identity at airports can be used to gatekeep financial participation. And once cash is eliminated, every purchase becomes traceable, every donation scrutinizable, every dissent punishable.

This is not speculation – it is the logical outcome of centralized digital control. The promise of CBDCs is efficiency, but the price is autonomy. A government-issued digital currency, programmable and trackable, gives the state unprecedented power over individual behavior. It can be used to enforce social credit scores, freeze assets, or deny access to services. And while President Trump may oppose CBDCs in principle, the deregulated AI landscape he champions could accelerate their development and deployment.

We are not merely observers of decline. We are participants in history. And whether America reclaims her soul or succumbs to progressive deconstruction rests upon our willingness to fight – not just at the ballot box – but in the classrooms, the courtrooms, and our communities.

The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest. And today, that monster is digital, bureaucratic, and ideologically ravenous.

Let us rise – not with hatred for hatred’s sake, but with unshakable love for the greatest nation on Earth. Let liberty be our banner and truth our weapon. Let us reject the illusion of safety that comes at the cost of freedom. Let us question every mandate, every algorithm, every policy that demands our submission in exchange for convenience.

The Republic must not fall without a fight worthy of its heritage. We must remember that our Original Constitution – not its current bastardized dying version – was not written to protect us from foreign invaders; it was written to protect us from our own government. And that protection begins with vigilance, with courage, and with the refusal to trade liberty for comfort.

The Founders did not envision a nation of passive consumers, monitored by digital gatekeepers and herded by bureaucratic algorithms. They envisioned a nation of free men and women, bold in spirit and unyielding in principle. That vision is not dead – it sleeps. And now, it must awaken.

So let us stand. Let us speak with resolve, boldly and fiercely. Let us act. Not tomorrow. Not when it’s convenient. But now. Because freedom delayed is freedom denied. And the longer we wait, the deeper the abyss becomes.

America is not lost, but she is calling.

Will we answer?

September 8, 2025

~ the Author ~
Justin O. Smith Has Lived in Tennessee Off and on Most of His Adult Life, and Graduated From Middle Tennessee State University in 1980, With a B.S. And a Double Major in International Relations and Cultural Geography – Minors in Military Science and English, for What Its Worth. His Real Education Started From That Point on. Smith Is a Frequent Contributor to the Family of Kettle Moraine Publications.