The Political Decline

Another candidate or two said the same thing. I have long said, the iceberg is straight ahead and those with their hands on the wheel are blind. Finally, some of our leaders are waking up to what is unfolding. We have to first recognize the problem, before we can address the problem. On the downside, DeSantis and Vivek politicized it saying/ implying the decline is due to Joe Biden. No doubt the decline is continuing to accelerate (the political decline), but the truth is the decline has been unfolding for decades now. All the last 8 or 9 Presidents have been doing is steering us to the bottom, albeit at different rates. We are Rome about 180 AD, or about 60 years beyond its peak.

For 13 years now, I’ve been saying our nation is in decline. More to the point, in 2010 I called our decent “a long slide” that will result in parts of the financial or real economy collapsing in some way, shape or form sometime over the next two decades.

Initially, I highlighted our moral decline. How it began somewhere between the assassination of JFK (1963) and the Summer of Love (1967). How in the decades that followed, collectively we have lost our sense of right and wrong. I highlighted the cultural decline as reflected in movies, TV and the internet. How it was especially targeted at children and this would accelerate our fall as we “grew into decline” as the silent generation died off and was replaced with those brought up in today’s anything goes culture.

I wrote things like this over and over: “Instead they are watching TV, movies, playing video games and listening to music that is showering them with harmful lessons like, party 24-7, talk with 4-letter words, dis-respect authority, violence is the way to solve your problems, have sex now, and the gay life-style.”

In 2010 I wrote about the economic decline, how it started about the year 2001 and the way the economic decline was beginning to lower our standard of living, especially those in the bottom quarter of the income spectrum. The economic decline is rooted in rising public and private debt. How that would raise interest rates and would slow the economy. In turn, the government would step in and print money to keep rates from rising. Inflation would result and that would slowly chew up purchasing power bit by bit.

I wrote throughout the 2010’s the true inflation rate was about 5 or 6 percent, incomes were growing at only 3 percent, so annually those living hand to mouth were losing about 2 or 3 percent of his purchasing power. After 10 years, 25 percent of their purchasing power is gone. No wonder dollar stores and dollar menus are now all over the place. Those at the margin are slowly being squeezed.

The economy nearly collapsed in September 2008 (Lehman Brothers) and March 2020 (Covid-19). There would have been other to the foundation cracks if it wasn’t for: staggering borrowing, printing of money, artificially low interest rates, expanding government safety net, juicing up home and stock prices to give us a false sense of confidence and the massive transfer of wealth from the silent/ baby boomers to their heirs.

I also wrote about how we no longer feared God as a nation and lost sight of his instruction here on earth. The spiritual decline has been unfolding since the 1980’s I believe. Finally, the social decline or the inability of our nation to unify in a common cause I’ve touched on here and there. That started in the early 1960’s I believe.

What I did not see coming and I was totally clueless about was the unfolding political decline. This is new to the overall theme. There is no longer any rules when it comes to getting and holding on to political power. Tucker Carlson asking, “will they try to kill you?” Even he sees how quickly things are declining in this do what you can do to win political environment. Sad.

What the Democrats are doing is dangerous and another ratcheting down that will further accelerate the decline. Impeachment used to be reserved for gross conduct and law breaking in office. It has been turned another political tool to use against the opposition party like a 3-month-running attack ad. Manipulating elections rules and gaming the system in order to gain a political advantage is now part of the Democrat playbook. Dems are using law enforcement to prosecute their political enemies (e.g., FBI Russia hoax and IRS investigations of conservative 501c3 groups and now the prosecutions of Trump. A complete hoax in the former and unequal justice in the latter two).

The US is inching closer and closer to the edge of the political cliff. This needs to be stopped. If not, Republicans will then have to do the same, and these third-world tactics will be cemented into our nation’s political playbook.

The first move will likely be by the US House – impeachment of the President, maybe some of his cabinet or defunding the DOJ starting October 1. Red state AG’s at some point will see the political advantages in prosecuting Democrats in their states. If Trump is elected, his DOJ will soon be in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania investigating the suspicious actions in the 2020 elections. Many Democrats from county officials up to the legislatures will be indicted, tried and bankrupted.

I was hoping the 8 candidates would have clearly laid this out, and how it could spiral out of control if the adults in the room do not stand up. A couple of candidates mentioned it, but not nearly enough. And they did not articulate it like this. I hope some will step up.

If not, that leaves the Federal Appeals/ Supreme Court as the only hope. I’m praying they’ll rule this is politically driven and it does not belong in court. Something like… you’ve politicized the media, FBI and our schools, nope, not our court system. Get out! Political issues are dealt with at the ballot box. And they will throw out the cases.

Decades later, we are no longer a shining city on a hill. The right/ wrong direction surveys confirm it, as they’ve been negative for 13 years now. Even the ruling class is starting to recognize the mess they’ve created. The people have the ultimate power. At all levels we have to begin to elect leaders who are candid in the assessment, are principled and more forceful leaders. I don't think we've hit the iceberg yet, but it is dead ahead I think.

The unfolding political decline will be most telling. Will the adults step in and stop it? Or does it just continue to unravel and both sides begin to use the same "at any cost" tactics to hold on to/ gain power?