I knew when I wrote the last blog ("Tearing Down The House") that some folks would take on the politically correct duty of calling anyone who even discusses the ethnic issue a racist. I have already received a couple of those accusations within just two days of writing it. But that charge would be difficult to prove. I grew up in an integrated Iowa. We had black and Latino classmates and I never saw anyone treat them any different than the rest of us (well, I have to admit one guy did that moved to my school in junior high from Tennessee). I have had many very good African-American and Latino friends over the years, both at work and socially. I would vote for a Thomas Sowell (if he ever ran for office), a Condoleeza Rice, and an Alan West in a heartbeat. And there is strong evidence my father, who was adopted at birth in 1914 in the Lakota Sioux territory of western North Dakota, was half American Indian. So it is more than probable that I could be classified as a minority too. By the way, both Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull were Lakota Sioux, and I happen to be very proud of that fact.
My problem with Barack Obama is not his race, whatever he claims it to be. He could be green, purple, blue or even a fricking zebra. And I don't care where he was born. My problem is his communist politics, his known association with anti-American radicals, his blatant dishonesty, his condescending arrogance, his imperial manipulations of the Executive Branch, his dictatorial violations of the Constitution, his dismantling of free markets, his war on private enterprise, and his crippling of our national security capabilities.
Domestically we have been stuck in an economic quagmire because of Obama's anti-capitalist policies. Globally we have lost influence in every corner of the world as he offends our allies and practices his theory that appeasement will make those who want to kill us become our friends. Obama's supporters can buy into his bullshit and argue until they are blue in the face that this state of affairs is not his fault and he needs more time, but after four years of his leadership that argument is becoming stale and tiresome. The only time in our history that recovery from a recession has been anywhere near this weak was in the 1930's when Franklin Roosevelt pursued the same policies. And while the media focus is on the Middle East and Iran, where clearly the situation continues to deteriorate no matter how they try to sugarcoat it, Russia and China build up their military capabilities with little notice from our fearless leader.
Obama's personal character is constantly revealed in his now worn out self-promoting standard operating procedures. He takes no responsibility for any actions or programs that have bad results and undue credit for the good things he has very little to do with. He creates fantasy straw men regarding his opponent's record and policies, then burns them down with empty but appealing cliches. He creates outright lies about his political adversaries and then accuses them of lying. He is all Hollywood fantasy. The scariest part is he almost seems to believe his own bullshit. One has to wonder if these delusions of grandeur indicate serious psychological issues.
I am not a Republican. I am an independent. I don't have a problem with raising marginal tax rates on those making half a million dollars a year. I agree that health care definitely must be reformed, although placing anything under total government control is not an optimal solution. I think we need to get our ground troops out of Afghanistan right now - three years ago would have been even better. I think the far right wing of the Republican Party is full of lunatics, just as the far left wing of the Democratic Party is. The difference is that the far right is not in charge of the Republican Party. If it was the party would not have a Mormon running for president. Meanwhile, the far left of the Democratic Party has an iron vice grip on it. It is my opinion these people are not liberals, nor are they traditional Democrats. They are autocratic dictators in the mold of Vladimir Putin, Fidel Castro, and Hugo Chavez. They don't intend to listen to the people and they don't intend to compromise.
There are certain facts of life that the president and his politburo either don't understand or deliberately don't want to acknowledge in their delusional belief that they possess the brilliance to dictate the perfect world. Try as they might, the best efforts of human beings cannot outlive father time, outsmart mother nature, outproduce free markets, or outlaw income inequality. Nor can they eliminate the need for strong national security or create a more fair and just society than real democracy. Sadly, real democracy has become an illusion given the ignorance of so many voters and the lying and cheating of political parties.
Certainly the Republican Party has its share of folks who have no business being any nation's political leaders. But today's Democratic Party has become a monolithic force under the influence of people who are working to turn the United States upside down, destroying both our legacy and our future. They do it in the name of being the defenders of the poor and underprivileged even though the programs they legislate do nothing to improve the condition or opportunities of the people they pretend to champion.
Over the last fifty years the Democrats have had total control of both houses of Congress 32 years and Republicans only 14. Democrats have held the presidency at the same time they controlled both houses of Congress 16 years in the last fifty compared to only 8 years when Republicans had total control. In other words, Democrats have been in charge of the country more than twice the time Republicans have in the last half century. Yet the rich have gotten richer and the disparity in wealth continues to grow. Maybe voters should rethink who is responsible for that. How long can Democrats keep running their scam?
As I said in "Tearing Down The House", white men of European descent were prodominantly responsible for creating the unprecedented affluence the United States of America has achieved, and they were responsible for preserving freedom around the globe in two world wars. Notice I said predominantly, not solely, because obviously there were African-Americans and other ethnic groups that contributed, as did women. In fact, the Census Bureau records indicate that in 1800 the country was 81% white and 19% non-white, with that 19% being primarily black slaves. By 1850 it was 84% white and 16% non-white. As of 1900 whites comprised 89% of the US population, a number that did not change much through 1950.
Today non-Hispanic whites comprise nearly 70% of the population. America has been a predominantly white nation since its beginning and still is, although that is currently changing at a rapid pace. It is not a misrepresentation to claim that white people were the driving force behind building America into its dominant position as a world power, both economically and militarily, in the twentieth century. That is not a racist comment. It is a fact. But forget race. Substitute private enterprise, free markets, property rights, individual liberty, rule of law and limited government for 'white men of European descent' and you see what was really responsible for creating American preeminence among nations. It is just that white men of European descent had the foresight to adopt those principles, philosophies and values. Regrettably, those principles, philosophies and values are what our current Democratic Party leaders are working to repudiate and replace.
One comment I received for the last blog was that white men of European descent built America on the backs of slaves. In the early part of American history there is some truth to that, particularly in the agricultural sector of the economy that was prevalent at the time. But slavery ended nearly 150 years ago, and nearly all progress in America has occurred since that time. No one in at least six generations had anything to do with slavery. Slavery was clearly wrong, as was the brutal massacres and forced resettlements of the American Indians. But those wrongs occurred a long time ago, and it is way past time for people to move on.
Contrary to left-wing rhetoric, only a few white men of European descent were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Most everyone in America except the fortunate few have experienced bias, discrimination, rejection and despair in our lifetimes, admittedly some much more than others. Never-the-less, private enterprise and free markets have allowed all of us to greatly increase our standard of living, including those at the bottom of society's ladder. The United States of America is one of the greatest success stories in world history. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in this country who do not understand what made us successful. Or maybe they are just easily conned and still can't recognize political snake oil when Dr. Feelgood comes around every four years.
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