Just when I thought ‘Finally 2020 is over, and things will start to get better’, they have actually gotten worse. I’m not sure 2021 could have started off much worse start than it did. The surging pandemic continuing unbated in this country despite the heroic efforts of our medical community and an attempted insurrection of the U.S. Capital by domestic terrorists based on lies.
COVID-19: The never-ending pandemic
I’ll start with the pandemic. Now there are new more infectious strains being discovered all over the world that will make community spread even easier. Strains that probably would not exist if we had been told the truth and had actual leadership throughout this crisis. Maybe more would have followed the medical guidance to isolate, wear masks and social distance and less people would have gotten sick or died. Yet almost a year into this, we as a nation are tired of the pandemic so we are letting our guard down. We are not social distancing or wearing masks like we should because we just want it to be over. All this while others still believe it’s a hoax designed to hurt soon-to-be-former President Trump.
The pandemic ‘hoax’
Let’s examine that lie for starters. America’s population of 331 million is just 4.25% of the earth’s entire population of 7.8 billion people. Somehow there are people are so lacking in intelligence or are so mentally frail their minds have convinced them that the pandemic was created to advance the political agenda of one party over another. Because 2.1 million people around the world had nothing better to do the past 12 months than to die from a fake virus for the sake of one political party in America.
Let’s peel back the layers of this onion some more. In order to pull of this “hoax”, someone managed to get ALL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD THAT CAN’T AGREE ON ANYTHING to:
1. Agree to create this fake pandemic. (this was the best they could come up with?)
2. Convinced over 93 million people (and counting) around the world to get sick. (did they volunteer or was there a lottery to choose them?)
- Update 7/7/21: 185 million cases
- Update 11/1/21: 247 million cases
3. To really sell it convinced over 2.1 million people (and counting) around the world to die. (again were these volunteers or did they draw straws?)
- Update 7/7/21: 4 million dead
- Update 11/1/21: 5 million dead
Just to hurt Trump? (Because the rest of the world has nothing better to be worried about?)
I have questions
This leaves so many questions:
- Was Trump pretending to catch this fake virus? (for what purpose?)
- Was his hospital stay part of the ‘hoax’? (was he bored running the country?)
- How was that supposed to help him?
And again…if this is the Democrats making all this up, why would the rest of the world is go along? What motivation or benefit would the rest of the world get from participating in this ‘hoax’? (If Democrats were that powerful, there would be no Republican party or foreign countries because the Democrats would literally rule the world.)
- Update 7/7/21: Trump has been gone for 6 months so what is the purpose of this ‘hoax’ continuing?
Oh and the world spent trillions of dollars as nations raced to create a vaccine for this fake virus. They purposely tanked their economies just so they could go into more debt propping them back up for no reason because it’s all fake. Millions of people lost their jobs and cannot pay their rent or mortgage or put food on the table…just for fun?
This makes no sense to anyone of sound mind and judgement. The sad fact is there are, unfortunately, many people that believe these lies to be true, regardless of how ridiculous it is and sounds and how much evidence there is all around them to the contrary. This speaks to the extremely sad state of education and mental health in this country. That so many people can be duped this easily into believing such obvious lies. If you are one of these people, you seriously need to seek out professional psychiatric (mental) and/or medical help immediately because you are not well!
We now have vaccines
For those that recognize and accept the truth, we now have approved vaccines, even though it will take 6-9 months before enough people have them to really change the current reality.
- Update 7/7/21: 55% of Americans 12+ fully vaccinated, 64% with 1 dose. To see how other countries are doing click here.
- Update 11/1/21: 68% of American 12+ fully vaccinated, 78% with 1 dose. Children 5-11 are now eligible.
This is the price citizens pay when politicians who are completely out of their depth think they know more than the actual experts. Those that refuse to accept the truth and facts about a situation despite mountains of evidence. It is unfortunate that most politicians are not leaders, just loudmouth bullies with a pulpit to yell from. More times than not just an obstacle to actual progress being made on anything. The mindless lemmings that believe all the lies because they can’t think for themselves give these morons validation.
Democracy threatened
Which brings me to the insurrection. The fact that the US Capital was invaded by extremist domestic terrorists because they believed all the lies and misinformation they have been fed for months about the presidential election being stolen from them; a feat last accomplished by the British military during the War of 1812 more than 200 years earlier. I’m not saying Americans don’t have legitimate grievances in some cases, but the extremism, lies, misinformation and violent tendencies that are taking over is something that cannot and should not be acceptable to any American that has read and understands the U.S. Constitution. An therein lies the problem: the fact that most people that are screaming about their constitutional rights, have never read the document and have no idea what it really says or means.
Actually Read the Constitution
And if you have not read or do not believe in the Constitution, why are you here? Seriously, there are 200 other countries you could live in. If you do not believe in our system of government, do not want to obey our laws, leave! There is no place for you here and your absence will not be missed. There are more than enough people elsewhere in the world who do believe in our democracy and wish they had it as good as Americans have it.
Other countries wish they had it so good
I have lived and worked in foreign countries and visited many more. I have taken time to learn about their systems of government, laws and how the people live and recognize how lucky we are. The problem is that a large percentage of Americans have not left the state they were born in, let alone visited another country. Those that have, maybe they crossed the border into Canada to shop, or visited a resort in Mexico. They haven’t lived or worked among the local people for any length of time. They have no idea the lives the people in other countries lead and what they go through on a daily basis. Americans today are so self-absorbed with how everything is or should be about them. They cannot possibly look at our country from a different perspective.
This country was built by immigrants
It seems most Americans have forgotten how this nation began; that we are a nation of immigrants – people fleeing persecution in their home countries or just looking to start a new life in a new land of freedom. We are a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds and identities. Native Americans are the true ancestors of our land. A land the white man stole from them. An inconvenient truth many would prefer to forget or ignore. Humans by nature are a violent people as history proves.
Every time we think we’ve turned the page and become more enlightened as a species, a new conflict emerges somewhere. Today, we no longer have civil discussions or debates and agree to disagree on some topics. Everything is polarized and for many people taken to extremes. We place so much importance on trivial items that make no difference in our lives yet we ignore all the important items that do. Violence is becoming the first option if we disagree, not the last.
Let’s face it, our country is broken. The issues we are confronting are not new. They have been simmering in our society for decades if not a century or more. There are no easy solutions and I believe we’re heading down a path that can only lead to more violence and armed conflict if we don’t change our attitudes and gain some perspective. A second civil war is the most likely scenario although some extremists would prefer to call it the second American Revolution. All because of a distorted view of what the U.S. Constitution supposedly gives people the right to do or their interpretation of such. Let’s look at what the First Amendment says:
The 1st Amendment
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Where in the 1st Amendment does it state you can turn into a violent mob, attack people or property and threaten to kill our government officials? When does freedom of speech turn into the right to spread lies and misinformation or incite violence? What allows for pipe bombs to be planted and a guillotine to be erected on the lawn of the U.S. Capital with the intent of hanging elected officials? The courts have already ruled that you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater when there is no fire. That is a matter of public safety. If you use hate speech or incite violence you can be prosecuted for a hate crime.
Social media makes it ok?
So why all the sudden on social media is it now acceptable to say things that would be criminally prosecutable otherwise? And why do so many people flock to this type of speech? Why are so many people this angry that they feel violence is the only answer? How can we learn to identify the truth and separate it from the lies and misinformation that so many people spread and even more believe? How can we silence these attention seeking snake-oil salesmen so they no longer have the ability to influence the weak minded?
What happened to rational thought?
Why do so many people distrust experts like scientists, doctors and factual evidence or data, yet believe celebrities, politicians or extremists spewing hate and lies? How are the lies and misinformation so much easier to believe than factual data and hard evidence? How can so many people claim something is unconstitutional or claim they have the constitutional right to do something when they have never read the document? They are just parroting something they saw online or heard someone else say.
Can no one communicate?
Our ability to communicate effectively has been lost. We are all good at running our mouths, but very few of us are good at listening. Everyone hears what they want to hear or tune others out to prepare for what we’re going to say next. We let our emotions get the better of us instead of thinking clearly and making sound arguments, something I know I’m guilty of in the past.
I guess they can’t read either
Reading the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights is not easy, even though it is written in English. The time period and manner it was written in is one which we no longer speak today. The way the English language is used and spoken has evolved over the past 200 years so even if people we’re to sit down and read it today, most would not understand it. Among many basic skills in decline in society today is the ability to read and comprehend what you read. We’re bombarded by so much information (and misinformation) that most of us just skim topics and infer their meaning without actually reading the whole article. Who has the time?
The BIG Lie
I know many in this country actually believe that the election was stolen and that there was massive voter fraud. But if that were really true, where is all the evidence? Just because you say something happened over and over again doesn’t make it true. You have to have proof. How were over 50 lawsuits all dismissed or dropped if there was all this evidence? Why did Trump’s lawyers say they had all this evidence to the public only to backpedal when standing in front of a judge that could actually make a difference? Because there are consequences for lying to a judge but none for lying to the public. Do you actually believe all the Trump appointed judges that heard many of these cases would actually ignore real evidence? How does that help anyone?
Is there anything that can be done?
Our democracy is under threat like no other time in our history save for the Civil War 160 years ago. The continued ease of making false claims and sharing them online with large groups of people is tearing this country apart. I believe we need to strengthen our laws around free speech, especially for elected officials. I would love to see politicians held accountable for lying or misleading their constituents the same as if lawyers lie to a judge. What if we had laws that required public officials to speak the truth? How different would things be if they faced hefty financial penalties and criminal prosecution for their lies and misleading comments? That would change the game.
We could make it even stronger with a 3 strikes clause after which they automatically lose their public office and be prohibited from running again. I know this is extremely unlikely to ever happen, but if politicians were held accountable for their words and actions we would not have seen what we witnessed on January 6th.
Bring back accountability
We as citizens can and should hold our elected representatives accountable, but only if we stop believing the lies and misinformation and call them out when they do it. As a veteran I swore an oath to defend the constitution against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC. The extremists that stormed the capital are exactly that, domestic enemies. If the GOP continues along the path it began in 2016, they will be too and should be branded as such.
- Update 7/7/21: Over 535 arrests have been made in connection to the capital assault so far with more cases still under investigation
(To be transparent, I have voted for a mix of Democrat, Republican and Independent candidates in every election over the past 30 years. I don’t vote for a party. I vote for a person and the issues they stand for and how they conduct themselves to represent me and the issues important to me regardless of the party. If only more people did that, we might live in a better America today.)
Last Updated on August 16, 2022
