Gulliver's Travels

The Chinese, I'm sorry to say, are doing exactly what we should be doing. They’re doing it under their system in which everyone there is participating to the best of his or her ability. Grant it, it is not our system.

By the same token, I am loath to condemn the Iranians at this point. They too are doing what they think is right (under their system). It is not up to us to tell them anything. Both the Chinese and the Iranians are working hard to expand their spheres of influence. We, at present, have no alternative to offer them. We no longer project a credible example.

When they look at us they see a nation in decline. Our allies are running for the tall grass. We are no longer confident; optimism is draining daily. In fact, we seem to be actively fueling our own demise.

Both China and Iran are on the upswing. They are courting alliances on every continent; alliances from which we are excluded. They are building their military capabilities, with an eye to the future, to protect their strategic interests. We have abandoned strategy.

We no longer have anything to say to them. Our economy is running on fumes. Our educational system is beyond corrupt. Our media is blatantly rubberstamp. We are divided to the point of gridlock. Our best and brightest are hobbled by a mass of incomprehensible regulations - like Gulliver was by the Lilliputians.

We have voluntarily amputated our tongues. Even a whispered insult against us speaks louder than anything we might say in our own defense.

Our expectation that Republicans will restore us stems from the same root that elected Obama. We veer madly left, then right; and likely back again. Every day we hear the dollar’s death rattle. Our American tradition has been blighted by our political battles in which constructive compromise is routinely shunned. Yes, we need change alright, but it’s not left change, or right. We need to rediscover what it means to be American.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/