We, as a nation as a WHOLE (always individual exceptions), are better off, generation by generation, than we used to be. But with expansion of economic advancement and cultural diversity (i.e. more freedoms) comes a cost. We make fun of our parents (or grandparents) for being shocked at the now benign Elvis and for predicting the slippery slop of moral decay...and upon reflection...
Then....
Now...
Oops...they were right. Self expression has come a long way. With it we brought the ugly step-sisters commercialization and exploitation. WE were given the opportunity and WE showed remarkable lack of self restraint. WE had choices (i.e. freedoms) and WE have decided how to use them.
At least sometimes...you personally have to measure whether the good has outweighed (and will hopefully outlast) the bad...
WE have morphed as a country from a tiny and weak demi-nation that was able to be such a pain in the ass that we outlasted the most powerful nation on earth (twice) to earn our freedoms. Once we had independence WE chose wars of expansion to make ourselves more powerful and advance the sense of national unity. The cost was an epic war to determine that national unity that in turn advanced freedoms for the most restricted and downtrodden among us as well as a new identity as one nation, rather than a collection of individual voluntary associates. WE allowed this new federalism to concentrate in Washington with nearly unrestrained powers over individual rights. The advantage (which we would never had achieved otherwise) was to make the United States the most powerful (militarily, technologically, socially, economically) nation on earth in three or four generations after the "new birth of freedom" as we moved from an agrarian to an industrial nation while simultaneously expanding (suffrage for women and younger adults, access to careers, education, housing, healthcare) and restricting (regulations, "protections", taxation).
There is cost to advancement and one of the most serious is now the legislative branch, in a trend beginning with the Kennedy/Johnson administrations, have mortgaged our future in order to expand social programs and ensure our standing military can protect our interests. It is our cost to bear and WE must have done so willingly because WE keep electing the same Representatives and Senators over and over and over again. This must be EXACTLY what we want because WE have cheerfully accepted that the Federal Government can dictate how we decide to live our lives down to the most basic of healthcare. After all, 65.5 million of us voted for the junior Senator from Illinois (and it only cost him $11 per vote). Damn we sell our freedoms cheaply. And to support this, 65.9 million of us voted for him again in 2012. This must be exactly what we want.
And now, and meaning no insult to anyone other than the individuals specifically mentioned below, we have:
Hillary Rodham Clinton - Even within her own supporters is not viewed as honest. No seminal legislation during her tenure as Senator from her adopted state. No signature diplomatic breakthroughs during her tenure as Secretary of State nor any transformative domination of major issues. Just contributions to the Bill and Hillary Foundation by foreign powers, lapses in security, Behgahzi (I am sorry, but she outright lied), and the euphemistically named "Arab Spring". Would you loan Hillary your car keys with the title in the glove box?
Donald Trump - Philandering nomad who has never held public office so we have no evidence of any kind of legislative success. No experience with a bicameral form of government. No experience with the judiciary other than suing or being sued multiple times. Self-promoting huckster who has succeeded in making money (for himself, not necessarily his partners) and making headlines. Potentially another rookie in the White House. Cannot be viewed as a great communicator, facilitator or consensus builder. Do you REALLY want this guys finger on the button?
Bernie Sanders - Most dangerous man in America as a septuagenarian (they say the White House ages you, so you gotta wonder what Bernie will look like in four)...
A zealot who fervently believes in socialism, despite all the evidence to the contrary. His mind is made up, do not confuse him with the facts. Would you really want this guy to be signatory on your checking account?
Ted Cruz - A man so hated by his own parties other Senators, you wonder at his ability to derive consensus from either side of the aisle. Princeton and Harvard trained "man of the people"...we have so many of those in Washington now...how is that working for you? Domestic policy adviser in the Bush II campaign...and there were SOOOOO many domestic policy successes during that time....right? After Bush took office, Cruz served as an associate deputy attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department and as the director of policy planning at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, but labels himself as an "outsider" to the Beltway? Was elected to the Senate in 2012, so another junior Senator running for President. How has the last one worked out for you?
Those are the four choices that have the best chance to win their parties nomination and WE put them in that position. WE voted for them. WE support them (sure, you may say not me individually, but this is a collective problem). The only person who does have experience as the executive in a bicameral government, who has actually turned an economy around, who has taken a budget from deficit to surplus is viewed as a hanger on with no real chance at his parties nomination. Actually, the only bad thing said about the Governor of Ohio Kasich is that he is a sloppy eater. Nice one Donald....
I guess this tirade is to say we have come very far very fast and we have severe growing pains. WE can (and I think will) solve these problems only to have our children have to address the residue from our solutions just as we have had to from our parents. BUT...Hillary, The Donald, Bernie, and Ted...sounds like this should be a sit-com rather than a slate of potential presidential candidates.
WE may have just shot ourselves in the foot. One can only surmise from our Nations' success that we have been the recipients of benevolent divine intervention. I pray to God it happens again....
Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer
