When I watch the news these days, I don’t even recognize my country. Daily, new policies and new edicts from the White House appear to be systematically dismantling the country I grew up in. I feel disenfranchised, pushed out of my American home and lifestyle. Frankly, I feel betrayed by our leadership and appalled that others in our legislative branch have done so little to oppose the changes. My country is dissolving before my eyes into a putrid mess.
The changes are coming fast and furious, and I really believe that’s the strategy — overwhelm people with so many issues that no one can concentrate on any one specific thing. Then they push legislation through, using scary words like “catastrophic” and “urgent” to motivate people to panic and act quickly without thinking ahead to future consequences, because they’re convinced the economy will collapse completely without immediate action. I think long and hard about a $100 purchase, but they decide to spend a trillion dollars in a month’s time? Ridiculous! Foolish! Wasteful!
That’s exactly how we managed to spend over a trillion dollars in the blink of an eye, without a firm plan for its use and a tight grip on the wallet to prevent its misuse. Just one example: billions of our tax dollars were wasted, given to GM because they were “too big to fail.” And yet just a few months later, here we are — GM filed for bankruptcy anyway. Where did all that money go? And that’s just a small example of the waste we’re all paying for.
What I can’t figure out is why they’re doing this. Why would the leaders of the US want to undermine the structure that has made us a world leader for over 200 years now? Why radically change something that isn’t broken and replace it with a system that has been demonstrated in other countries to either not work at all, or not work satisfactorily?
Don’t they realize that the things they do will affect them, as well? Or do they think they can operate outside of the new rules, just because they’re the ones who made them? Apparently the Obamas do — what about the unannounced flyover of New York City by Air Force One for a “photo op”? Millions of dollars spent there, plus frightening the local people out of their wits because they thought it was another terrorist attack. Have they not heard of Photoshop? I could have done it for them for $100 and thought I was well-paid for my efforts!
And how about the night on the town to go to a Broadway show and dinner for the Obamas? I wonder how much that cost, with the contingent of secret service agents that no doubt accompanied them? Or the solo shopping trip to Paris that Michelle Obama made while her husband was on a speaking tour in Europe? Could she not have hitched a ride on Air Force One instead of catching up with him later? More money wasted. The list goes on — and all the while, the American people are encouraged to trim their spending and simplify their lifestyles. The Obamas are certainly setting an excellent example, aren’t they?
I agree some changes that need to be made, but it’s not due to the structure of our government — it’s because of the abuse and twisting of the original intent of our founding fathers that has become the norm in modern times. Take “separation of church and state,” for example. The intent of the architects of this country was not to ban any mention of God in government, it was to prevent the formation of a government run by religious leaders. But today, those who wish to limit any mention of God to the four walls of a church have used that phrase in the Constitution to justify their position, and since some judges have ruled in their favor, now a precedent has been set and other cases are based on those rulings. The snowball gets bigger (and more established) as it rolls downhill.
The saying that “power corrupts” definitely comes to mind in all this. Those in power have long been known to line their own pockets and those of their cronies with the privileges that their power provides. I think this has become a “corporate culture” of greed and self-interest in Washington, DC. Their own betterment comes first, and their constituents come second (if at all). Once they’re in office, it’s a free-for-all of closed-door dealings and word games to lull the public into complacency while their country is being stolen from them, one piece at a time.
I want my America back! I used to be a patriot and could barely contain my tears when the “Star-Spangled Banner” was played before an event, because I was so proud. Now I’m extremely sad to say that I’m no longer proud to be an American. I’m ashamed of what we’ve become, just in the past six months. We’re a laughing-stock among other nations, and a beggar looking for China to buy our debt. We are bankrupt as a country, financially and morally. We have lost the world’s respect, and I fear greatly for our future as a nation. We’re eventually going to reach a tipping point (and soon, at the rate we’re going), from which there will be little chance of recovery.
God help us all…
