Wake Up America
We have met the enemy and he is us.
Pogo
The Russian Menace
Russia is a problem. Its primary strategy is to diminish American influence in the world, to sow chaos and distrust in our government and to divide the American people. It seeks to widen the factions in American consciousness—gun control, race, environment, gender and financial equality, etc.—the places in the fabric of American life where we are torn.
The President
We have three problems. The first is the president. He has many faults. He lacks leadership ability and moral character. He perpetually lies. He lacks communication skills. He calls the European Union our greatest foe when he means they are our greatest financial and business competitors. He has a massive ego. He has a worldview of conflict and winners and losers. One of his favorite derogatory statements to an adversary is to call the person a loser. His strength is business; he values money, but devalues alliances and allies. His greatest deficit is that he does not know the power of people united.
The American People
The president is a problem, but he is not the greatest challenge. The greatest challenge is we, the American people. Some of us think Mr. Trump is the savior, some of us think he is destroying the foundations of our democracy.
Here is a principle of consider…as long as we think someone is the answer or the problem, the challenge cannot be met.
Russia attacked us, the American people. We were duped. Russia struck a blow at our greatest strength, our unity.
Russia created fake news in a back room, took advantage of our inclination to focus on reports that reinforce our biases and opinions and got us to spread the lies on our newsfeeds and by pushing a share button. Unconsciously, we colluded with the Russian strategy to divide our house knowing that a house divided cannot stand.
Wouldn’t it be helpful if our president spoke to us during an evening prime time broadcast and said, “My fellow Americans. We are under attack by Russia. They are dividing us, and a house divided cannot stand. We must do what we have done throughout our history—unite. The nation is under attack, but individual American citizens are the targets. During our time together, I am going to tell you how it was done and is being done and what you can do as an American citizen to thwart this challenge to our nation. If we unite, we will do what we have always done, triumph.
We need a president who brings us together. We are crumbling from within. Friendships have been destroyed. Friends are unfriended. People won’t even talk about what is happening because they fear the loss of friendships and the eruption of passions that lie within us.
I suspect every nation faces a time when divisions and factions widen. We had our Civil War, and, now, we are in a less bloody internal conflict, but it is just as much a threat to our future.
The challenge is that there is no one to unite us. Our current “leader” specializes in division, and in this, he is in collusion with Russia. I don’t know if it is conscious or unconscious, but Mr. Trump is not doing his job. His massive ego prevents him from acknowledging the attacks. He most likely thinks an admission devalues his election. His massive ego blinds him to what is actually happening. He is content with ever widening factions because he values conflict. He said he even values it in his staff.
I said there were three problems. The first is the president, the second and primary problem is we the people, but there is a third—Congress.
The Third Problem
Our senators and representatives took an oath to protect and defend the country and the Constitution of the United States. Many of our congressional leaders have broken their oath. They no longer protect and defend the nation; they protect their jobs. They are cowards. They fear that if they speak up and challenge the president and his worldviews, they will lose their jobs.
Dear friend, risk is what courage is all about. There is no courage without risk. If the job is lost, so be it. The person may lose his/her job, but we will gain a hero.
We The People
This is one of the most challenging times in our nation’s history, and we do not have a president who can lead us. We do not have members of Congress with the courage to be heroes.
This may be the first time in our history when the American people must lead, must be the heroes. It is written, “We the people…” Dear friend, you can be a hero. We need you. The Russian plan may be strategic, but make no mistake, you, an individual American citizen, are the target. Don’t be an unwitting pawn in Russia’s attempt to divide the country.
Let us rethink our biases, expand our minds to embrace other viewpoints and become heroes. Can you feel it? Can you sense it? We the people uniting… and a single headline is on the front page of every newspaper and is the lead statement of every news broardcast—America Awakes!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this post. I, like so many in our country, feel awash in this time of never ending chaos, lies and deceit from our leaders and ever widening division with friends and family. Never in my 75years has there been a time when such fear and uncertainly about the future is being addressed by so few. Your clear and honest defining of our country’s status, problems and a path to unification is priceless.
The answer is not to tally up all that is wrong, we just need to bless everyone with love and acceptance. Whatever we hold in our minds and hearts is projected out to the world, we are truly one. If we continue to project hostile thought guess what, we will have more hostility in the world. Why can’t we project love and acceptance and give it a try. Do we believe in the Unity principles or not?
Beautifully written! Thank you!
Trump does not understand Principles, or reason, nor does he even understand the repercussions of his decision to partner up with Putin EXCEPT that he thinks it will benefit him. He is no doubt being used but isn’t able to understand that. I think he truly believes Putin is his friend. He seems to have no capacity to understand that Putin uses people, chews them up and spits them out. Literally killing people who disagree with him or who he is done using. I think it may end up that Trump will end up in prison for treason or have to seek asylum in another country. Yes it is that bad. There is much evidence that this manipulation of the outcome of the election was planned out as much as two years in advance and yes, with Trumps knowledge and cooperation. He once said he will never lose his base. My guess is that he won’t because it has been been set up by manipulating voting machines. Yes, there is evidence of this too. Also it has been revealed in transcript of the indictment of the latest Soviet who posed as an advocate for the NRA that Trumps cabinet appointees had to meet with approval from Putin. Referencing a comment she made in one of her emails. “Does he (candidate nominee) meet with our people’s approval?” Our people meaning the Russians. We are in much more trouble here than we think. Our President is literally a Puppet for Putin and for all the reasons stated above. Trump is inept in every way mentioned and more. Putin knows that all he has to do is keep flattering Trump and playing that he is his “buddy” and telling him how much smarter he is than the rest of the people in Washington and he remains putty in his hands. I think this has been going on for so long because they ( CIA, FBI) are out to save our country from a full take over. They are getting their Ducks in a row and they will, (SURPRISE! SURPRISE! ) be the ones draining the swamp. There is something very, very wrong in our country and it goes far far beyond having a raving idiot in the White House as President. People need to wake up to this and understand that our Nation is under serious attack from within. We are in the process of being taken over by Russia. Never did believe Trump was a legal sitting President. We have some real inept people in our population unable to understand the rule of law or the Constitution, easily manipulated and even some that have a Hitler mind set BUT not enough to explain Trump winning an election. Why haven’t they impeached Trump? Because they are after the whole swamp of Russians and co-conspirators that have aided and abetted them to attempt a takeover of the United States. Yes, it is that serious and I hope people wake up and realize what is really the issue here.
Beautifully stated and so very true.It is too easy to remain silent during these frightening times. We di need ti wake up and make our voices heard by voting.
Blessings
Very well spoken.
I feel it, I sense it. There is a raising up coming. We the people are awakening. It is coming from within us. It is unstoppable but might take some time. Thank you Jim for being a way shower.
I definitely agree with you. Putin wants to divide America, as well as our relationship with our allies.
Then, we loose our power.
It appears that our president insults our allies and tries to build relationships with leaders of Communist countries controlled by dictators. Maybe he would like to be a dictator.
You are right, our freedom is in the hands of the people. When we wake up to the reality that we have no leadership in our elected governmental officials, and unite as citizens of America, not parties, then we can save our country.
I think Pogo said it all very simply. However, pointing the finger at Trump is pretty low and should not be done. He won’t be like most people because he is a New Yorker and anyone who has not traveled that area of the country will not understand this. They seem rude, crude, and very unpleasant to the average person, yet, it is how they survived and thrived in the most populous city in the US. He is not a politician who panders to people to gain favor, he did not get to where he is by being anyone but himself. I do not like him, I do not care for him, but I do admire him for being true to himself. The American people really had gotten tired of the status quo of the standard political hack, also, they did not like being called deplorable.
We let ourselves be fooled by fools for a long time. We are supposed to be a nation of sovereign individuals, not ruled by an “Elite” class of privileged.. We actually started out as a socialist nation that created a republic to avoid mob rule by those who could be easily swayed by the emotional voices of the ruling elite. The republicans and democrats are just the two sides of the same coin. If you have not noticed this they have programmed you well.
It all stems from the same eternal battle of the halves and have-nots. It has gone on for the longest time, and is perpetuated by both sides. Russia is a country with some very tough people in it. They have a long history of being invaded but never concurred. Most Americans would shrivel up and die if they went through even a day of the hardships and average Russian took in stride. They are our enemy only because we need one.
You Tube:
Norman Mailer interviewed by Martin Amis, 1991 (2 0f 4)
I came across this post in March of 2021. I wish more of us had your incisive view of the situation back in 2018. I’ve always admired your work and I wish more of us had paid attention as well as you obviously did. All the best to you.