The Trifecta Catchup.

The Trifecta Catchup.  Here are some thoughts on three current issues.  Each, especially the last one, probably merits a longer address, but in the case of this challenged blogger, less is probably more.

First, I find myself in the awkward position of applauding Hillary Clinton.  My disdain for Hillary runs nearly as deep as what I hold for Obama, but right is right.  As the recent YouTube video shows, when confronted by a Black Lives Matter advocate backstage at one of her events, Clinton engaged in a brief conversation about the goals and methods of the BLM movement.  During the conversation, Clinton spends a couple of minutes pointing out to the BLM representative that no politician can change peoples’ hearts.  She correctly stated that we can institute laws, regulations, and policies that strive towards equality and dignity for all; but that peoples’ hearts (by and large) would not be changed by political movements, personalities, or concerns.  Now I have never considered Hillary to be a great orator.  I do believe that the woman is fairly intelligent in an esoteric fashion, but one should never mistake her as a gifted speaker or conversationalist.  Having said that, my words cannot begin to give sufficient credit to the manner in which Clinton replied to the BLM person during this part of the conversation.  With an efficiency of words that is remarkable for a politician, she went straight to the heart of the matter and pointed out the futility of trying to eliminate prejudice in this way.  One can only hope that this startling verbal effectiveness was only a passing moment and that the fever will pass quickly; returning her to the bumbling, devious, and politically-challenged candidate that she is and always has been.

It has dawned on me recently that I have been living for the past couple of decades with a misperception.  I have believed, and often stated, that a President receives too much credit when times are good and too much blame when times are bad.  The President’s ability to affect our lives, given the limits our governmental system, dictates that aside from the bully pulpit, their ability to institute serious change in our society and lives is incremental at best.  Obama has proven me wrong.  My perception that the President can only implement positive change in incremental fashion remains intact.  Executive actions, by their nature, are oftentimes temporary; what one President does, the next President can undo.  Only through the fundamental and difficult labor of legislation can a President effect lasting and substantial change to our nation.  However, Obama has convinced me that I was incorrect on the opposite side of my theory.  The damage he has wrought to this nation, through the principal use of executive action, is no doubt lasting and substantial.  I can only hope it is not permanent.  I do not include Obamacare in this indictment; even thought it was part legislative and part executive action.   I have always believed that elections have consequences.  I believe that if voters choose to be frivolous and uninformed in their selections and support, that those choices will come back to haunt us.  Where I was mistaken was in thinking that the checks and balances built into our government would somehow prevent a single bad President from wreaking damage that would last long beyond their term(s).  Obama has totally destroyed this notion.  As a combination of his incompetence, his obstinate ideological approach to governing, his narcissistic nature, the weakness of the Republicans in Congress, the excessive tolerance of the American people, and his brazen disregard for statesmanship and legal standing, Obama has single-handily damaged this country to a degree that will require decades to overcome. 

And finally, to close out my diatribe, I would like to briefly note the decay of civility in our society.  I have lived a blessed life and the good Lord has been generous with me and my family.  I have not demanded much and been given more than I ever expected, or deserved.  As this sprawling nation and immense planet goes, I live in a fairly small bubble and am pretty well insulated from what might be considered national trends.  Having said that, however, I cannot help but be dismayed by the signs I encounter in my everyday life that indicate to me that our society is in decay.  I see it in the way our leaders behave; their lack of respect and common consideration for each other and their constituents.  I see it in the way that contractors and skilled craftsmen do their work; compromising on the quality, having no pride in their product, and depersonalizing the services they provide.  I see it in the customer service industry; the way a clerk or waitress will oftentimes view you as an insect, rather than a paying customer.  I see it in our morals and our ethics; promoting all manner of behavior, regardless of outrageousness, in the name of tolerance and sacrificing personal dedication to principle in the name of doing “just what the law/job/people/etc. requires”.  We all know that our children are woefully unprepared by our education system to graduate into responsible and productive citizens; and yet we continue to abstain our responsibilities as parents and focus instead on sports and extracurricular activities.  We are all becoming weary of fighting the good fight and are increasingly drawn into our personal orbits of existence; becoming comfortable with the blinders that shut out all but that which is in our immediate vicinity.  Perhaps this is the natural evolution of our culture and I am simply stuck in the past; but I would like to think that we are instead immersed in some type of funk from which we will someday awaken.  It takes a wiser man, or woman, than me to figure out that awakening, but I do know this for certain: If we continue to sit uninformed and surrender our rights and responsibilities as human beings and Americans, we will deserve the consequences those inactions will bring.  If we do not become part of the solution; we are inextricably part of the problem.