Not everyone sees things as I do; I see things differently. I’m not right or wrong, just different and somewhat unconventional. My view is that we created these issues – We, the People. We let this great republic slip through our fingers.

I concede that decline is part of the natural order and always follows ascent. Nothing lasts forever, and humans are naturally pernicious.

You have every right to question my observations and to refute my opinions. If you offer a challenge, I ask for evidence, not suppositions, allegations, or accusations.

“If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one’s own self-deception and ignorance.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

Over the past fifteen years, maybe more, I’ve shared my views, opinions, and comments about America’s problems. I’ve even offered some simple, common-sense solutions.

Friend Bennett has been broadcasting similar messages for twenty-eight years. We’re not alone. Many others share our views and concerns for America, but it begs the question, why are we still sinking – what happened to our Republic?

I have learned substantially from over seventy years of reading and study. I’m trying to impart that knowledge. Throughout this learning process, my concerns matured, and I experienced a few epiphanies – Ah Ha moments and several WTFs.

My parochial education encouraged me to be curious and think critically for myself, which continues today. Another morsel I discovered is that knowledge is strengthened by sharing it.

Albert Einstein remarked, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” He also said: “You don’t understand a subject until you can explain it to your grandmother.”

Most of you are somewhere between innocent and venerable. The difficulty arises from a lack of curiosity. Age is unimportant; curiosity and a desire to learn are. Inquisitiveness is innate in humans; our public school system EPIG, Education by Programming, Indoctrination, and Gaslighting abate our interests.

The axiom “curiosity killed the cat” applies here. But it wasn’t curiosity that killed your inquisitiveness; it’s the onslaught of mind-numbing bullshit from the Mainstream Media Mafia, and Big Tech Social Media. Add to this socialist indoctrination in schools and the deluge of mindless advertising on every platform imaginable. You begin to see that it’s all hypocrisy designed to drive you into complacency with weapons of mass distraction.

I posted this essay in January of this year. In it, I discuss how apathy induced these circumstances in our republic. We’ve been lulled into complacency.

I’m sure you’ve all been on a long trip for vacation or business. Perhaps it was on an airplane, cruise ship, in a car, or even by train. You’re usually not taking an active role in the trip; if you’re not driving, you’re a passenger. Most of you are still passengers in this republic’s journey.

Being a citizen of the republic entitles you to a wide range of rights and privileges but requires active participation, especially in decision-making. Citizens have responsibilities!

Here’s the list in order of importance:

* Support and defend the Constitution

* Stay informed of the issues affecting your community – by the way, America is also your community.

* Participate in the democratic process – that is NOT Democracy!

* Respect and obey federal, state, and local laws

* Respect the rights, beliefs, and opinions of other

* Participate in your local community.

There are six items listed above – our responsibilities as citizens.

What’s your score? How many out of six?

How many of these things are part of your everyday life?

Are you an active citizen or a passenger, along for the ride but demanding your rights?

Divide your score by the number six – this is your percentage of participation. It’s essential, to be honest with yourself. I don’t care; I want you to realize that active involvement is crucial to the health of our republic.

Theodore Roosevelt said: “The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic like ours is that he shall be able to pull his weight.” I realize this is a dated concept, but only since we’re a country of laws, not of men, it is our charge to ensure that those we send to represent us fulfill their obligation to us and not exploit the opportunity for personal gains.

Here’s a more contemporary quote to ponder…

“There’s no free ride; someone always pays, and if you don’t know who that someone is, it’s probably you.” ~ Sarah Palin

Either you don’t appreciate the urge in urgency, or you don’t care.

By the way, the 2024 electioneering has already started. Listen to the lyrics of those tired old songs. Do you hear the rhetoric? Do you recognize the unfulfillable promises? There’s nothing new it’s the same tired schmegegge – that’s Yiddish for Bullshit!

You must understand how things should work to appreciate what happens when you ignore the warning signs. Look around you and witness the return on your investment (RoI). You put nothing in and got nothing out – a ZERO Rol.

When we choose not to participate, the government you ignore gives us what they decide is in its best interest. That’s how it’s been for the Twentieth and so for the Twenty-First centuries.

Big Brother tells us what he/they will “give” us.

These warning signs are like that blinking red light on your car’s dashboard, labeled OIL. My first wife ignored that warning, costing me a three thousand dollar engine replacement.

The red warning lights have been blinking for a long, long, long time. Our negligence has cost us the country.

There’s no trick to this. It’s all written in the history book – there’s tremendous power in them thar tomes. I think of it like I’m a miner (I haven’t been a minor for a long time); you must frequently work for the treasure. What you can discover with even a little digging is genuinely impressive and enlightening.

And it just keeps getting worse…

America is a sinking ship; our administration’s solution is to drill more holes in the hull to let the water out.

Our lack of comprehension and inattention allowed the politicians to seize control of the country. It wasn’t violent but a slow process. That’s how neglect works. You ignore the situation, and it deteriorates imperceptibly. It’s like rust on a car. It begins as a spot, and pretty soon, there’s a hole in your fender.

Eventually, you have precisely what you have invested; NOTHING! It will cost you an extravagant sum to repair if that’s even possible. Sometimes it’s not worth the effort. That’s what I wonder as I look around me now.

I question the sanity of trying to repair a FUBAR system. Maybe we should “nuke it from orbit” and start over… But, then again, saving our republic is worth the effort. It is the best administrative system so far.

Maybe we’re not as bright as we profess…

“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot…” ~ Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi

Now that the politicians have sovereignty, it won’t be easy to take it back. It might even be impossible at this point. It took eight years between 1775 and 1783 – that’s the Revolutionary War, by the way… an estimated 70,000 died for our freedom. How many of you are willing to die to regain control of America? NO… I do not advocate war, but a quiet revolution is what’s needed.

About 236 years ago, some brilliant men wrote our Constitution; they intentionally created a republic governed by laws, not men. Our astute founders realized that men would corrupt everything. That’s why they established a constitutional republic.

Negligence – I posted this essay in January of this year. In it, I discuss how apathy induced this do-nothing attitude in our republic. We’ve been lulled into complacency.

The Constitution’s preamble is crucial, especially the first few words: “We the People of the United States…” The first three are the most authoritative and influential words ever written or spoken, except for “Let there be light.”

Consider the implications of those first three simple words in the preamble: We the People. The Constitution is about us, not the government. It limits governmental overreach; it defines and constrains its power. But from where I sit, it’s all about them… and we let it happen.

We have front-row seats to the nightmare we created because we handed control of our country to politicians. In effect, we gave a teenage boy a quart of Jack Daniels and the keys to a Lamborghini Diablo.

What could possibly go wrong?

I thought the last two years of the Bungles the Clown was the “Show to end all Shows.” I was wrong – I am continually amazed by the cabal’s creativity and audacity. I thought they’d stop when they reached the bottom of the barrel, but they started digging.

You do realize that Bungles the Clown is not actually in charge, right? Barack Obama’s political machine is still running this country.

Hey Bungles, Barnum & Baily called; they want their clown costume back, and Scranton called; the job of the village idiot is still available.

Will Rogers said: “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” But you see, Mr. Rodgers’ wisdom requires you to recognize that you’re in a hole, to begin with. This administration is so oblivious they can’t see it, or more disturbingly, don’t care.

A three-ring circus is a perfect parallel for this administration.

Ring 1 – The Legislative Branch – These are the clowns we call Congress (the opposite of progress). These buffoons are responsible for our laws and budgets when they’re not battling each other for power, position, and partisan control. Their primary responsibility is to uphold the constitution.

Center Ring – Executive Branch with Bungles the Clown and Kackles. There are others in this branch, a supporting cast of jesters we call the Cabinet. Each is wholly inept and ill-suited to their assignment. Steadfastly loyal to the party and willing to ravage the republic for its partisan goals, precisely what you’d expect for this amateurish administration.

Ring 3 – Judicial, The Supreme Court interprets the US Constitution – what’s left of it – and is often the most maligned and misunderstood in the regime’s triumvirate. So far, they are the only troika member that intentionally avoids personal opinions, except for their extrajudicial comments about the decision, USUALLY! But for some unfathomable reason, they can’t resist inserting their distinctive, unique flair.

Bungles the Clown and Kackles are in the center ring of this three-ring extravaganza. It’s an orgy of narcissism and ambition. Self-serving doesn’t even come close to capturing the deleterious and egotistical decisions dividing this county.

I’ve offered my opinion on their rationale, and I’m convinced it concerns boosting the number of DemoSoc voters and the eventual demise of the republic. The end game is seizing partisan power and keeping it by transitioning to socialism – The The New World Order and World Government under the UN – One World with them in charge.

The missing component, the neglected factor in all of their equations, is “We the People.” It’s never what’s best for the republic; it’s all about them and the Military-Industrial Congressional Complex. We, the People, are inconsequential and an inconvenience, a nuisance. In their eye, we exist to be governed!

We’re merely the walking wallets, a source of tax funds for them to reapportion to their supporting base as they, please. And… when they want more, they simply fire up the printing presses to make more. With a few strokes of the pen and a profusion of insipid enactments from Ring #1, we’re $31.6 Trillion in debt, carrying an astonishing $181.8 Trillion of unfunded liability.

* Unfunded liabilities are debt obligations that do not have sufficient funds set aside to pay them. These liabilities generally refer to the US government’s debts or pension plans and their impact on savings and investment securities. Unfunded liabilities can significantly negatively impact the general economic health of a nation or corporation.

We’re an available workforce – trained to perform menial labor, programmed to accept what we’re given, and too bullied to say anything about it.

We, the People, provide a facade of propriety for fair and open elections to keep these politicians in place. Without this veneer of respectability, we’d be an oligarchy.

The Herd Mentality
I just finished an essay on American Education that addresses this topic. This quote by Max Beerbohm sums it all up nicely.

* “You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind-legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men.”

Americans follow blindly. We don’t think; we react. It’s a programmed response. If we were as bright as we think, we’d have stopped this insanity long ago. But you see, we not that sharp – were sheeple who follow the leader; in our case, the misleader.

Grandpa Frank said, “He’s as sharp as the edge of a bowling ball.”

We’re deluded and influenced by position, power, and money. Anyone with these attributes is our salvation, our guru, guide. These qualities cause us to believe this person is imbued with exceptional understanding and wisdom when in reality, they are mere mortals like us.

It’s been my experience that these are the worst examples and leaders. Their acumen has a single focus – it’s single-threaded. It may be technical or financial, but practical combinations are rare. These people personify narcissism. There are, of course, occasional exceptions, but that’s as rare as morals in the DC swamp.

The original concept of our Constitutional republic was to be governed by laws, not men, and whenever we allow men and women to take control of our system and circumvent our laws for expedience or convenience, as in the case of the pandemic, “We the People” lose.

The best chance to rescue the republic is to return to the constitutional precepts upon which this country was founded. If we stay on our present course, we will hit that iceberg, and this unsinkable Titanic of a country will break apart and sink. This analogy is fitting since we don’t have enough lifeboats, either…

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

March 2, 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!