US Teeters On Edge

 

Time was when people around the globe looked to the US of A as the one steady and reliable power that could be relied upon when things looked dim.  Less because of the strength and wisdom of its government, but more because of its many “institutions” that had been built and strengthened over its colorful history.  And mute testimony has been the countless accounts in history when they had credibly acquitted the country through the bumps and straight-a-ways encountered.

 

But slowly and maybe at times imperceptibly over the years, these reliable institutions have been assaulted and weakened, less by known outside forces, but more by pernicious inner forces that have slowly been eating away at their foundations.

 

It behooves us then to revisit them if only to sound off a roll call to find out where they are headed.  And there are many to be mentioned, far too many to make this account truly all inclusive.  But just the same let us count the random ways where many have been headed.

 

First, its vaunted free press.  Now we find mainstream media to be so slanted to the left that there is no conscious hiding of this fact.  It is now okay since the irrefutable proofs are so glaring and cannot be hidden from view.  These dominant liberal journalists in media are expected to compartmentalize their personal ideologies from their work as guardians of objectivity and impartiality.  But realities show otherwise. It is as if collectively mainstream media has taken on blinders, seeing things only one way, their way.

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What about academia?  The country where the most prestigious schools are located, where eager and determined students from all over the world rush to gather and to learn.  Again, leftist and statist ideologies have co-opted far too many campuses, complete with insidious intolerance for those who do not toe the ideological line.  So intolerant those espousing traditional ideologies have to practically go underground, or risk censure or worse

 

Going below, we revisit the noted public school system in the US, once the unstinting pride of educators worldwide.  Now almost a big joke, by and large.  With big teachers unions holding students hostage, and caring mostly about benefits and tenure.  Always asking for more money, while student scores continue going south.  So now states spend more money for less and less education.  What a boondoggle.

 

What about the hard sciences?  Surely they have been left untouched by the clammy hands of intolerant ideologies or pseudo-sciences.  Well, think again because some have gone softies.  So think about global warming and how this has made many scientists look more like money chasers than impartial pursuers of truth.

 

Big Business, Wall Street, Banking?  We need not go far or travel back in time.  We are still in the cavernous throes of the calamities brought on by these institutions.  Double dip recession, anyone?  What about the very stubborn housing bust which continues to remain unstable?  Scandals.  Failures.  Bankruptcies.  Etc.

 

Well, of course, let not our very broad brush include the small business community, the mom and pop enterprises that have been tasked as the dependable backbone of the economy and have supported it greatly without question and very little complaints, in times of prosperity and dire needs.  Indeed, like in the disastrous economic situation we now find ourselves in, exacerbated by a bungling government.  And so who do we turn to for renewed employment and activity?  Small businesses.

 

What about the other professionals?  Definitely, we cannot cogitate with kind thoughts about the lawyers, especially the tort lawyers with their exorbitant fees and silly suits.  By and large, I would say our doctors in the profession have been true and faithful to their Hippocratic Oath.  We still have the best medical care in the world, the looming catastrophe the people call the Obamacare notwithstanding

 

The film industry?  One word.  Hollyweird.

 

Through thick and thin, the military has always pulled the country through with its inspired members making ultimate sacrifices for love of country.  But now we are reading reports that political correctness tentacles are now trying to secure a stranglehold.  To pursue beloved diversity, promotion points, sensitivity training and all, a determined push to the path for lowering standards as accommodations is now in place.  Women now go into areas traditionally reserved for men simply because of their rigorous demands but not to worry, standards can always be lowered  We know we cannot sacrifice standards for these goals simply because national security and freedom are the highest stakes of any freedom-loving  country.

 

Forget mentioning government and its many institutions.  No one doubts how low they have all ploughed themselves under.  What is the approval rating of Congress?  How dirty has our presidential campaigns become?