Last week I said that “Americans now cannot tell reality from its perception.” The inability to do so prevents individuals from accurately analyzing factual data and taking appropriate and effective action steps. If this impairment defines those in political power, the damage to society is incalculable.
Remembering that in our Constitutional system We the People are the ultimate Sovereign, once it becomes clear that a critical mass of those in important executive and military positions cannot now tell reality from its perception, the Sovereign must somehow step in. It is a predicament that Americans hoped they would never have to face, but that predicament is upon us.
General Lloyd Austin declares, in public, that the withdrawal from Afghanistan was “remarkably well done.” The Commander in Chief declares, in public, that “we completed the biggest airlift in American history. The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill. . .of the US military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals.” “We planned for every contingency.”
“Extraordinary success”, “remarkably well-done”, and “we planned for every contingency”, will no doubt go down in the annals of American military and diplomatic history as the largest fictions ever uttered by a Secretary of Defense and Commander in Chief. The action steps taken reflect the cataclysm that can occur when reality and its perception diverge.
This leaves We the People trapped in a precarious position. The security of the nation is now dependent on the critical thinking skills and mature judgment of its citizens, not its elected and appointed ministers.
Back to square one. When America won her revolution against Great Britain in 1783, John Dickinson crafted the Articles of Confederation as America’s first governing document. It became clear in a few years that the Articles did not create enough energy or power in the national government to stave off foreign interest in picking off the fragile new nation and its abundant natural resources. But the agreed-upon Articles provided for amendment, not replacement. To do anything but amend would not be honorable.
George Washington and other Founders knew this inconvenient fact, but decided to replace the Articles anyway and have citizens ratify what they came up with – the United States Constitution. The People narrowly agreed, understanding that the authors had gone outside the boundaries of the lawful, but preferred to take a chance on the strengths of the document itself and on the integrity of its main backer.
How can we use this history to help us now?
The Founders were clear-eyed; they could tell reality from its perception. This is hard to do today as we do not have enough intelligent and curious journalists to dig out facts and present them to the Sovereign. It is the omission of facts that is the most damaging. So-called journalists today are activists with their own agendas and, as one television commentator told us, feel no compunction to give alternative arguments on any given issue or even report important issues of the day. The citizens of 1787 had the very thorough Federalist Papers to read, digest, question, and weigh when deciding whether to ratify the Constitution and numerous sources of extensive information and differing opinion. The Founders knew what they faced against a revengeful Great Britain.
What we need to be clear-eyed about today is that there will be no voluntary course correction from the current policymakers. It was made clear at 9/11 services that the debacle in Afghanistan would be defended as would the open southern border. The errors in judgment are so glaring and obvious that appropriate corrections should have come quickly. Instead, doubling down will inevitably be the mother of more tragedy to come. Arrogance wrapped in the delusional is now at dizzying heights in the current administration.
Assuming most Americans have a reasonable level of critical thinking and mature judgment what can they do?
They can stay educated and informed despite all efforts to keep the public in the dark. They can demand of their representatives in Congress that the insanity stop. The US Constitution is the appropriate guide. There are three co-equal branches of the federal government. If one of the branches is clearly acting outside of its Constitutional parameters, the other branches must step to the plate to correct. The Supreme Court should agree to take critical cases and rule quickly and decisively. Congress has the power to act at anytime. National defense is its top priority.
More importantly, other than matters that involve national defense and other enumerations in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution, everyday matters, called “police” powers are really with the states and the People. (Amendment X.) Demand responsible decision-making at the state level and demand vigorous push-back against any out-of-control branch of the federal government. States and the federal government compete for power, not rights. People have rights, states have power. There is no such thing as state’s rights. Ultimately, We the People have both rights and Power. We need to use it.
It might be wise, also, to examine motive. What is happening is so massive it cannot be mere incompetence. What is going on is deliberate. The wished-for “transformation of America” seems to include her demise. Whatever the motive, We the People need to press for a Constitutional solution to the disconnect between reality and its perception in the executive branch of the federal government. Each American citizen has a duty to take some small action on behalf of the nation in his or her everyday life if only to inform oneself. In conjunction with other citizens, these action steps amount to real power. The very life of the nation is going to depend upon it.
