Victor Hanson
The summer of 2014 will go down in history as
the season when America fell apart. Let's take
a tour of the disasters.
Germany in 2008 enthusiastically hosted
candidate Barack Obama for his so-called
"Victory Column" speech. Now, Germans
suddenly sound as if they are near-enemies of
the U.S. Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly
was furious that her cell phone was tapped by
American intelligence agents. She just kicked
the top CIA official out of Germany, further
enraged that the U.S. had recruited at least one
German official to provide intelligence on the
German government. Polls show that Germans
find Vladimir Putin's Russian tyranny almost as
popular as Barack Obama's America.
Japan is becoming similarly frustrated with the
U.S. It is rearming like crazy to confront an
aggressive China. Both Asian powers
apparently assume that Obama won't
guarantee the security of the Japanese as
America had in the past.
The Middle East is dissolving. Taking U.S.
peacekeepers out of Iraq proved a disaster.
The radical jihadists of ISIS are overrunning
Syria and Iraq, as they extend their destruction
even to the mute stones of religious
sanctuaries.
War looms between Israel and the Palestinians
as they exchange rockets and bombs. Older
Americans had an idea of what Afghanistan
will look like by 2016 after Obama announced
a pullout of all U.S. troops. They remember
Saigon of 1975 all too well.
Crimea has become a Russian satellite. The fate
of the Ukraine hangs in the balance. In
between his conquests, Russia's Putin openly
ridicules the impotence of the U.S. He is often
called to the Middle East on the perception
that he can address problems that America
runs away from.
From his sanctuary perch in Russia, National
Security Agency turncoat Edward Snowden is
once again releasing top-secret data that
shreds the credibility of the Obama
administration.
Foreign leaders don't trust the U.S. They are
baffled as to whether America is guilty of
incompetence in hiring such a roguish dropout
snoop in the first place, or guilty of cynically
spying on America's best friends -- or both.
The economy shrank last quarter. Record
numbers of adult Americans are still not
working. Zero interest rates have destroyed
the tradition of passbook savings and the very
idea of thrift.
No-interest financial policies ignited a
stampede to the stock market that has further
enriched the one-percenters -- an artificial
boom that everyone believes will soon bust.
The borrowing of $7 trillion has proved no
stimulus. A natural American recovery was
stymied by vast federal borrowing, by the
addition of more incomprehensible
regulations, and by an Obamacare package that
proved to be the opposite of almost everything
that was promised. Inflation is said to be
manageable, but only by not counting soaring
food, gas and electricity costs that do the most
to erode family budgets.
U.S. immigration law simply no longer exists.
Incoming foreign nationals more likely
welcome arrest than fear it. Tens of thousands
of newly arrived immigrants expect that the
cynical coalition of commercial interests,
ethnic activists and political operatives have
subverted existing federal law. America is now
wide open. Almost anyone can cross the border
and receive subsidized sanctuary. If you object,
you are a nativist, racist or xenophobe -- take
your pick.
No one denies that top IRS officials lost or
destroyed key documents concerning the
agency's election-time efforts to subvert
conservative organizations. The unbiased IRS
that we once knew has vanished. It has
become an appendage of the ruling
government that punishes enemies and
rewards friends -- and dodges a high-level
audit by lying in the same fashion as the tax
cheats it goes after.
Americans accept the fact that a video never
had anything to do with the killing of four
American officials in Benghazi and know that
the Obama administration knew precisely that
when it assured them otherwise.
No one has heard anything lately from Private
Bowe Bergdahl, who was traded for five of the
most dangerous jihadists the U.S. had in its
custody. The less we know about why
Bergdahl went AWOL, the administration
thinks, the better.
The scandals now come so fast and furiously
that we no sooner hear of one than yet
another new mess makes us forget it.
What keeps the country afloat this terrible
summer?
Some American companies produce more gas
and oil than ever despite, not because of, the
Obama administration. Most Americans still get
up every day, work hard and pay more taxes
than they receive in subsidies. American
soldiers remain the most formidable in the
world despite the confusion of their superiors.
The law, regardless of the administration, is
still followed by most. And most do not duck
out on their daily responsibilities to golf, play
pool or go on junkets.
It is still a hard thing to derail America in a
summer -- but then again, we have a long way
to go until fall.
No comments:
Post a Comment