The Whole World is Watching - Special Saturday Post

I don't usually post on Saturdays but with the Senate passage of their 'tax reform' package, I had to say something.

As America tests resolves with allies all over the globe, she tests resolve with her own people.

That is the sad conclusion I reached today. The evidence?

·         A tax cut unearned by the beneficiaries

·         A tax hike on those least able to pay it

·         An economic stimulus totally ill-suited to the needs of the nation

·         A loss of purpose and mission in Congress

·         An all-time drop in confidence in the federal government by citizens

·         Wanton sexual dysfunction by people of power at all levels and across all societal norms

·         Inability to focus on the real problems that the nation faces

·         Healthcare systems attacked and damaged; instead of repair, further attack to damage them further

·         Greedy corporations who have fed at the government trough for years now own the same government; lock stock and barrel, no accountability to their stockholders, their workers, their customers or the citizens who bear the full cost of governance

·         Global distrust of a nation and its morals that once were the standard of the world

·         Fact and truth twisted and misrepresented at all turns

·         Reciting lies as truth until the audience believes it as truth

There is more. Much more. Reciting them only gets us a longer list of disappointments. A nation turned upside down. A culture disbelieving its own truth because truth is now a commodity conforming to those who have the funds to purchase it and shape it to their will.

We are witnessing unhinged behavior at every turn. Definitions no longer represent bedrock: up is now down, and vice-versa; in is out and out is in, beautiful is ugly and – oh never mind. You got the point!

So here we are. Bedrock reality is a ghostly scrim. We have only our own inner thoughts and convictions. Maybe trusted fellows and family will gather for strength. No; even family does not know who to trust; they oppose one another in many ways. Not just political or governance, but also in emotion and want of love and support. Sisters against brothers, sisters against sisters, reaching for more of what they think will satisfy their needs but, greed became the goal. The picture comes to focus; a family in disrepair and no longer pinned to one another. Over and over again this pattern presents itself.

If the family is thus, whither the nation?

Indeed. Wither the nation?

Have you asked yourself lately what will cause you to act in response to such calumny? A betrayer of all we believe in is manipulating the worst human traits among us. A free-for-all is happening before the feeding frenzy plays out; each wants his piece of bacon, to hell with the other person.

What do we do in this situation? What are the legal recourses available to us? How quickly can they be enacted? Will anyone be listening and authorized to activate the mechanisms to implement solutions? Or will all be lost? And who, then, enters the scene to control the spoils of an inner war among a people who were too asleep or drugged on sated desires to realize what was happening?

Is this accurate reporting on the situation? Or is this emotion run amok?

Who is left to know?

December 2, 2017