By Ray Cardello for April 2, 2024, Season 25 / Post 36

Most of us know that something just isn’t right. We can feel it in our gut that the America we were lucky enough to be born in doesn’t feel the same. The American Spirit, that sense of patriotism that brought us to attention for a passing American flag, has been dulled. Many of our fathers went to Europe or the South Pacific as kids to preserve America and ensure she remained that shining beacon on a hill. Ironically, what they fought for, and many died for, was the right of a new generation to look down on and think of America as a repressive country built with the blood and sweat of slaves. Fields of white crosses in Arlington National Cemetery, Normandy, France, and il Shima, Japan, mark the graves of the sons and daughters who gave their lives to preserve the rights of ignorant, ungrateful Americans to burn the Stars and Stripes or kneel in protest as The Star Spangled Banner plays. I am so glad my Dad, who served in the Army Air Corps in the Philippines, is not around to see today’s America. I genuinely believe there are more of us who know we won the lottery to be born in America than those who would tear her down. The minority, however, seems to yell louder and more frequently than the majority. But we are learning to shout very loudly.

Some think America began to crumble with the Obama Presidency. Some of the younger folk may not have much recollection of time beyond fifteen to twenty years. Some believe it may have been when Camelot died as an assassin’s bullet downed John F. Kennedy. Others see the beginning of our demise with possibly our first Socialist President, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Roosevelt was in his fourth term as President when he died in 1945. He was the only U.S. President to serve more than two terms, and his time in Washington signaled a change and a new direction for America. Yes, he and Winston Churchill worked together to put down the Germans and Japanese who wanted to take over the world, but in his time in the White House, he did so much more.

FDR adopted programs modeled after those established by Socialist and Facist leaders of Europe and Central America. The Social Security program was taken from the Germans. It takes money from the young to supplement income for the elderly. The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), administered by the National Recovery Administration (NRA), was straight out of the playbook of Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy. This program gave the federal government the power to control private businesses, which is very similar to what Biden is trying to do today with his effort to set commodity prices. These were part of FDR’s New Deal, which really meant more control over Americans.

Fast forward to Jimmy Carter, who introduced America to Economic Malaise and added the Department of Education to his cabinet. The DOE stripped control of education away from parents and states and gave it to the federal government. The result is out-of-control costs and declining levels of success. Barack Obama thought he had revolutionized the medical industry and ensured health insurance for every American. With costs rising exponentially and 30 million Americans without health insurance, it is challenging to call Obama Care a success.

Today, we have Joe Biden circumventing Congress and defying the Supreme Court to elevate the Executive Branch above the other two equal branches. He has also prioritized DEI over quality and innovation in the private sector and government.

I am not saying that Republicans are without sin in our decline, but what I am saying is the Democrats have openly introduced programs against the philosophy of a great America and intended to change the country negatively. We need to do a better job of communicating why Socialist style programs are bad for America and make sure we are never in a minority position in Congress, which makes us virtually useless in defeating these Leftist initiatives.