Politics – Vince Wisdom

Intellectual Dishonesty

We’re desperately sick and refuse to admit it. We’re hemorrhaging yet mask obvious urgency with trite politically motivated talking points. It’s wrong. It’s criminally negligent. It’s also dishonest and manipulative. But it’s fixable if we’re willing to face intellectual honesty.

I’m writing this from the perspective of being an avid shooting sports enthusiast and gun owner. I “identify” as a fiscally responsible conservative Libertarian, disenfranchised by the two mainstream political parties. I also worked in the firearms industry for several years, working closely with law enforcement, the state’s crime labs, the Federal government, and gun manufacturers.

For years I have recognized obvious flaws in gun ownership rights afforded under the Second Amendment. Certainly no fault of our forefathers. They couldn’t possibly have foreseen how the dynamic of violent gangs, drug addiction, and the explosion of mental illness would affect the intent of the rights of lawful gun ownership.

I also understand that the intent of the Second Amendment is not to protect American citizens from marauding thugs but rather to give an armed citizenry the means to thwart a corrupt government and absolute power. The American Revolution would not have happened had there been gun control in Colonial America. We’d be still speaking the queen’s english and be eating tea and crumpets and something called “meat pies.”

An armed citizenry terrifies politicians. All of them. It’s why gun control through a Constitutional amendment has been an ideological goal – the golden fleece of political trophies – and why there has been vehement opposition from lawful gun owners, typically supported by Republican politicians. But once again, gun legislation has become the all-or-nothing hill conservatives have chosen to die on.

If lawful citizens are to retain our gun rights under the protection of the Second Amendment we must be honest about current gun regulations and the ability to purchase and own firearms. There are weaknesses in the firearms purchasing process that are simply too loose to be effective.

As lawful gun owners and supporters of the Second Amendment we must forward reasonable and responsible legislation to reinforce our Constitutional right. If we continue to hide behind its seemingly untouchable shield we will lose our opportunity to advance thoughtful and effective corrective measures. As a consequence, a Constitutional amendment driven by frustration and desperation will result in almost certain prohibition.

This is why.

We should all be able to agree that not everyone should own a firearm. It’s more than a Constitutional right, it’s a privilege. And with that freedom comes conscious responsibility and diligence.

The political right has dug their heels in with horse-blinder obstinance to any suggestion for practical and reasonable reform. In their defense, conservatives have held a position of defense against misstated liberal talking points. Many of the ideas forwarded by proponents of gun reform are indeed current laws “on the books,” as repeated by conservatives. But because it’s an emotional and divisive issue, both sides have refused to acknowledge the merits of reasonable discussion. From obstinance comes anger and half-truths.

I have had several conversations with conservatives – including law enforcement personnel – who believe that reform is necessary but are concerned with immediate overreach by the left; that is to say, unreasonable legislation if not outright prohibition. “ONCE THE CAMEL GETS ITS NOSE IN THE TENT!…” The concern of lawful gun owners is palpable. President Biden and his administration campaigned on the issue of gun control and amending the Second Amendment to achieve that goal. That fear has given rise to intellectual dishonesty and panic- buying of guns and ammunition.

Tucker Carlson of Fox News recently spoke of the Highland Park mass shooting in his opening monologue. Tucker is the last of the newscasters that I can watch because he is fair and logical, calling out missteps from both conservative and liberal politicians. But he said something that struck me as manipulative and dishonest regarding the rash of mass shootings. He said that shooting events using semi-automatic rifles like the AR15 are a small fraction of the overall “mass shootings” in America.

While statistically accurate, Tucker’s statement was intellectually dishonest because he combined all of the shootings across the nation’s urban war zones into the bucket of mass casualty events. If we are to be honest and seek a solution, we must be willing to separate spray-and-pray drive-by shootings perpetrated by black inner city gang violence and that done by methodical young, white, angry loners who execute gamer-fantasy military operations against soft targets.

One of the most obvious variables is the choice of weapon. Unlike inner city black-on-black violence, mass shootings like that at the Highland Park parade were carried out with an AR15.

I have had extensive firearms training and attended an AR15 school where we were trained to sweep buildings, engaging multiple targets while moving and from positions of concealment. The AR15 weapon platform is a lightweight, accurate, high power, high capacity weapon designed to simultaneously engage multiple targets with efficient lethality. Low recoil allows for rapid target acquisition and fast drop-and-change thirty-round magazine exchange. To deny the very characteristics of the AR15 that make it fun to target shoot as a sporting firearm is simply dishonest. The AR15 is the semi-automatic “sporter” version of the military’s M16.

M16

AR15

Guns are weapons of convenience – the great equalizer – affording a frail hundred pound individual the means to defend against a physically superior adversary. All firearms are capable of and designed for killing, with some better designed for killing efficiency. To deny these most basic facts is intellectually dishonest and will ultimately lead to the loss of lawful gun ownership rights with the inevitable spectre of future mass shootings.

But the AR15 is just a gun. It’s not a magical weapon of death made in Middle-earth by white Republicans in black helicopter factories. Nor is it an automatic weapon, i.e. a “machine gun.” Recent news reports by CNN and President Biden have been embarrassingly ignorant if not intentionally deceptive. I watched the president read (poorly) that, “you can’t hunt with an AR15” and that “you couldn’t eat a deer killed with an AR15.” As if the .223 (5.56mm) caliber has magical properties like a Star Trek phaser that turn its target to unrecognizable dust.

I know two women that have hunted with AR15’s and legally harvested several whitetail deer. In my opinion it’s an inferior hunting platform, having only low firearm weight and reduced recoil as an advantage over traditional hunting calibers.

The AR15 remains the go-to firearm the left uses to forward its argument for gun control; that is to say, an “assault weapon” ban. But it’s the left’s gauzy deceptive narrative that forces advocates of the Second Amendment to dig their heels in and push back. The purposeful use of the term “assault weapon” (like overplayed trigger-words such as “misogynist, institutional racism, microaggression, and privilege”) are deployed in nearly every gun argument to evoke fear, anger, and sense of blatant immorality.

It’s not so much the use of the term as it is the deceptive slide from an outright reference to the AR15, morphing to the generality of the necessity for an “assault weapon” ban. What is an assault weapon and who will be allowed to say what guns fall into that class of firearms? Or are all guns assault weapons?

Merriam Webster defines assault weapon as “any of various automatic and semiautomatic military firearms utilizing an intermediate-power cartridge, designed for individual use.” The definition of assault is “to make a physical attack on.” Given all firearm’s ability to kill, wouldn’t that make every gun an assault weapon by definition? But the left uses the word “assault” in “assault weapon” to imply intent rather than functionality.”

This is why advocates for the Second Amendment see any gun legislation as THE slippery slope toward gun control. Under the deceptive liberal narrative, an assault weapon ban could include any semi-automatic (magazine or tube-fed) firearm, including several shotgun, sporting rifle, and handgun designs (including revolvers) resulting in prohibition.

There are immediate steps that Second Amendment supporters could do proactively to acknowledge that change is needed and while doing so, regain control of the narrative. Bipartisan support to fix a broken mechanism is not failure, nor is it allowing the proverbial camel to “get his nose in the tent.” It’s simple honesty and necessary.

There has been tremendous pushback on the current system of national background checks for the purchase of firearms. Conservatives have scoffed, saying that background checks are already “on the books.” Liberals pretend that background checks don’t occur and that purchasing a firearm (even a “FULLY AUTOMATIC MACHINE GUN”) is as simple as going to Guns-R-Us with a fistful of cash. In truth, the background check system is woefully ineffective.

The process begins with a firearms purchaser filling out a Form 4473 requiring; name, address, birth city and state, race, questions about US citizenship, and a series of required yes/no answers (relying on the honor system) about drug use, domestic abuse, and other legal infractions. The process is absurdly quick. It takes longer to get a prescription from the pharmacy.

I am not for giving the Federal Government any more control than necessary, however background checks are one area for which I would make an exception. Currently queries into the mental health of gun purchasers is not allowed because of health privacy (HIPPA) regulations. The system relies on the honor system in the purchase transfer form asking, “Have you ever been adjudicated as a mental defective OR have you ever been committed to a mental institution?” It’s apparent that completion of Form 4473 is designed to limit the liability of the seller rather than to vette a gun buyer.

Clearly a deeper look into a purchaser’s background would require additional time. Walking out of a gun store with a new firearm on the date of purchase would end. The delay would be an acceptable cost for an additional layer of public safety. I have purchased several firearms and have never thought that I must have it immediately. Costs associated with enhanced background checks would be minimal and could be rolled into the background check fee.

As a rule-follower who believes that we cannot have freedom without self-discipline, I would be willing to allow a deeper dive into my background as a gun purchaser, including mental health. The Highland Park murderer, like the mass killers before him, had a series of psychological red flags that should have precluded gun ownership. The system relied only on the Form 4473 honor system and a cursory database check to determine if he was “in the system.”

In truth, the existing Red Flag Law has proven to be ineffective because of privacy issues. Law enforcement agencies appear reluctant to respond to reports of concern. Twice in my professional career I’ve contacted authorities concerning the welfare of gun owners that have threatened harm to themselves or others. I was summarily dismissed both times because I was not a family member and told that there was nothing they could do “until something happens.” In the first haunting case, a friend shot himself in the head several hours after I had reached out for help under Red Flag.

Red Flag must be allowed to work with no fear of reprisal. In addition, there must be protections and severe penalties in place to prevent misuse. An angry ex or vindictive coworker could create aggravation that would be difficult to unravel and ultimately result in unwarranted loss of gun ownership.

Other practical measures that could be forwarded immediately to demonstrate a real desire for change on the part gun proponents would be to revamp the Federal Firearms License holder policies. First and foremost, all firearms transfers should occur by reputable brick and mortar establishments, that is to say “storefront” license holders. Gun sales/transfers between family members, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances should not be allowed, including gun sales by non-FFL holders and those at gun shows and like events.

The gun show loophole has to be shut down. It makes legitimate gun owners and sellers look bad. Further, only brick and mortar establishments (that is to say retail outlets) should be licensed FFL holders. I have known several private citizen FFL holders that have acquired a license to buy and sell guns to friends and acquaintances as their hobby side job. In all cases their record keeping was beyond loose and sloppy. There is simply no reason to have more Federal Firearms licensees than taverns in the United States.

Solutions to all problems begin with a willingness to recognize that a problem exists and to face uncomfortable truth. Unfortunately, misstatements, intellectual dishonesty, and ignorance have stalled necessary gun legislation while American citizens fall to political stalemate.

Silenced Majority

We’re making a mistake. A massive mistake. The intentional blunder is universal acceptance of anything and everything regardless of its impact on greater society, including behavior that is the social equivalent of an invasive species infecting a balanced ecosystem. And it’s spreading because we simply refuse to say “NO!” to segments of our population that squeak… loudly. The majority’s collective voice is deafening but we refuse to raise it in chorus and instead bitch-whisper disagreement.

Our culture is now dominated by squeakers that make up small – but growing – portions of our population, yet are represented by mainstream media and the new political machine as being the overwhelming majority. It’s a lie but few of us stand up and scream, “BULLSHIT!” because we’ve been shushed and guilt-shamed for being rigidly white, Christian right, or jingoistic. Question anything that conflicts with intellectual honesty or your moral compass and you’ll be dismissed as a racist hater or fascist regardless of your color or politics.

The social fabric of American cities is in tatters because we cower. It’s like a screaming little chimpanzee beating an 800 pound gorilla with a stick. And the gorilla just sits silently motionless in the middle of its cage, covering its head instead of grabbing the asshole chimp by the neck and smashing its useless self on the cage floor – repeatedly – and then kicking the bloody remains through the bars at the keepers that have been idly watching.

The squeakers and their handlers have figured out the formula. It’s not genius, it’s merely exploiting the rule-following values that have dominated our culture since its inception, allowing us to lead productive lives. America has always thrived under the basic concept of personal individuality but national unity. You know, the whole “united we stand, divided we fall” thing. It’s not just words, but like all concepts, needs to be reinforced with truth and consequences. America has always thrived having a common goal… or common enemy. American unity has become the common enemy to forward a Marxist agenda.

Division has degraded the great melting pot into a disorganized mess of rusted pots and pans, having less value and functionality than the massive shiny stainless stock pot that we once were. Unnecessary group identifiers are now used to express individuality. We’re all American. There’s no need to separate into subgroups to validate identity or worse, promote victimization for no other reason than political whining rights. Sadly, those very subgroups are extinguishing individuality, freedom, and greatness with lemming-like mob-thought.

The real victim is US; the rule-following taxpayers that remain voiceless while funding insanity. It’s ridiculous that the majority is being guilt-shamed into silence while rage is fomented. And it’s being propagated because we don’t collectively say “no” and push back, smothering this disease.

A dog that repeatedly bites the hand that feeds it will eventually starve. It’s past time that we recognize that we are not being represented and are merely stationary targets for a dishonest media and milquetoast political representation. The last election has proved that our vote means nothing; the beginning of cancel culture.

It’s time to starve the dog.

But how? How can we stop the unravelling now that threads are being pulled from all sides of the flag?

In the simplest of terms, we must refuse to shut up and accept the unacceptable and instead collectively raise our voices against policy and behavior that is contrary to American unity. Stop supporting all politicians and industries that have acquiesced to social and political pressure. Industry has gotten away with this tactic for too long and our woke politicians are following in lockstep. They assume we are too busy, distracted, and shamed and will continue to support them out of habit or for the sake of convenience.

Nike set the standard for this marketing approach and got away with it, making bank with their lie of “wokeness.” If corporate hypocrites like Nike are truly woke (beyond the security of American protections) they wouldn’t utilize Chinese and third-world manufacturing facilities that force slave and child labor to produce goods for a targeted demographic that would certainly protest the swoosh out of existence if they were intellectually honest.

Greed is all they understand. It’ll be inconvenient but short-term perseverance will show the power of a unified majority. F’ the entitled elitists in Hollywood and professional sports that have been so coddled and removed from reality that they no longer understand that without us there is no them. F’ Delta, Coke, Gillette, and the rest of corporate America that has become detached from traditional American values merely for short-term gain, while promoting disdain for the very country and population that afford them to exist.

Starve them. We are losing our opportunity to push back.

Those who prefer death by one thousand cuts are not strong enough to wield a sword.

Monsters Among US

All monsters are created; they don’t just happen.

There are all kinds of monsters: those created by greed, power, addiction, loneliness, prejudice, twisted genetics, dependency, indulgence, or any combination of poisons that feed its existence. Everyone’s lived a monster: their own or someone else’s. Maybe you’re one and don’t know it. The quirk all monsters have in common is that they’re able to walk past a mirror and not see what’s staring back.

The longer we go, the more monsters we’ll face. I’ve lived my share: the one I hid from as a kid, an invisible one that ate my parents, a blonde one with pale skin that lied love, a dark soft-voiced one that whispered in the ear of two friends and convinced them to end, and the one that gnaws at my soul that I’ve created through hope and indulgence.

Monsters can’t exist on their own: every one of them has a creator/enabler driven by good intentions, paving the road to hell. The 700 pound mass of humanity, imprisoned in his bed, didn’t get from there to here without a loving enabler shoveling Big Macs, Cheetos, and Ring Dings in his face like a mother robin. Similarly, social and political monsters can’t exist without spoiled offerings of the well-intentioned.

Ego inspired Doctor Frankenstein. His motivation was true enough; giving life to the dead. Immortality. He didn’t create his “perfect specimen” to wreak destruction on the countryside. But, like the mad doctor, creator/enablers are blinded by one-sided vision for the future and are incapable of running the mental gamut of “what-if’s” by which monster-dodgers survive.

As if facing personal monsters isn’t daunting enough, we’re now witnessing the creation of a social beast the likes of which my generation has never seen. We’re too new. Too misinformed. Too distracted.

The lessons of history, considered irrelevant by many, are no longer taught and are being suppressed and forgotten. Societal values are being lost to mob-thought veiled in righteous collective-courage. Manipulative guilt-projecting word salads, tossed with trend-concepts like systemic racism, virtue signaling, white privilege, wokeness, reimagining (anything), and critical race theory have been weaponized to suppress truth and avoid root cause analysis.

European enablers have lived the broiling stench of Its birth several times, feeding their perfect specimen with human misery. Their history bears the scars of a thousand monsters and without exception every one has soiled its path with pain and anguish.

But all monsters have a common vulnerability; they have insatiable appetites but can’t feed themselves. Nourished by enablers, they gorge on anger and weakness and shit blame, fouling everywhere they roam.

There is only one way to stop a monster: take away the poison on which it feeds. If you are or have ever been in the grasp of a monster you’ll understand the challenge. Enablers will not willingly allow their creation to starve; because without their perfect specimen they are irrelevant.

Take a hard look at society’s enablers and consider what they offer humanity in the absence of their monster. There will always be enablers. There will always be monsters. Turn your back on both.

Rust Always Wins

This your America. This is the America you’re working for, paying taxes, voting, going to school and work and following the rules of society that used to be reinforced by active parenting and a foundation in faith in God and our elected leadership. What happened? How did we get from there to here so quickly?

There appears to be a general unravelling; a collective deafblindness caused by a politically motivated media, made worse by beer-goggle vision for a new utopia. It’s unintentional ignorance driven by dependency, redefined “hope” and politically motivated misinformation.

In hindsight, America’s metamorphosis from grandeur to ghetto didn’t suddenly sneak up, jump on our backs and start gnawing on our necks. It’s generational rust – unchecked decay – continually painted over with a fresh coat of gloss to mask deterioration.

Politicians’ answer is always fresh paint. Green paint. And America has been conditioned to believe that a new coat of paint will magically fix underlying rust simply by making the surface shiny. But rust, being what it is, always wins. That is unless the decaying foundation is ground bare and protected. But there will come a time at which there will be no foundation left to salvage.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. America has endured decades of self-serving politicians on both sides of the aisle that have been the mouthpiece for special interest rather than their voting constituency. As paying customers we’ve been trained to accept the ridiculous notion that the lesser of two evils is our best choice. Clearly that approach creates nothing better than the suit-clad tribe of two-faced puppets like Pelosi, McConnell, Schumer, and Romney that point fingers and talk tough but shine each other’s shoes with our dollar bills.

Compounding political corruption, we now have what can only be described as an editorial media that is undeniably controlled and manipulated, often using the same scripted language to disseminate “news.” They report with feigned disgust and anger to cajole viewers with false-hearted sincerity. And because we want to believe that our leaders are looking out for US, we’re coaxed into making sense of talking heads that have no more insight than you and me. They’re simply parroting a script.

News reporting has fallen victim to the McDonald’s effect. It doesn’t matter what store (channel) you choose, the Big Mac’s are the same, but tailored by anchor to feed a targeted demographic. It’s repetitive brain-pounding, forging scraps of junk into opinion art. As if repeating anything often enough – with venom – will make it believable…and acceptable.

And so the rolling snowball grows.

Wokeness, with prayers of shame, is the new social religion, created by a manipulative group of controllers to rationalize the suppression of minorities held in political servitude. But who are and have been overlords of the minority population, pinning generations to the ground by the throat in defiance of the Constitution and American buoyancy: The slave masters that have destroyed family, religion, culture, law, education, and self-worth?

They are the finger-pointing lords on the left and the right. The unapologetic chest-pounders and pocket-liners, hired by Trusters who have been deceived into a mindset of powerless suppression. And with every failed empty promise, hopelessness and rage builds.

But why? What could possibly be the endgame of such a control strategy? It couldn’t possibly be only for money and power. After all, what good is money if there is no US left. Why the hell would you replace the carpeting in your home just before you torch it?

It’s easy to understand how normal logical people race down dark rabbit holes to the bleak underworld of black helicopter factories in an effort to make sense of the nonsensical.

We’re watching hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from across the globe pour unimpeded through the floodgate of our southern border under the guise of humanitarianism, racing to the “shining city on the hill.” Laws… national security… health and safety be damned!

And if you’re brave enough to question policies that are obviously contrary to American interests, you’ll be shamed and scolded into silence for being “too white” (even if you’re brown). Critical race theory, artificially propped up by the mantra of guilt and shame, is the rusted (but shiny) green bus racing through Neo-America.

It’s for the children you selfish entitled white lump of human waste! You should be ashamed of your unwoke self! You only care about YOUR America. This is about the world… not just you!

Ok, but we’re broke. Morally. Financially. Ethically. We’re at the point where we can no longer take care of our own and we “deal with it” by simply printing more Monopoly money. America is like an impoverished family that survives on Saltines and Spam but adopts fourteen cats from the animal shelter in the name of kindness.

Weakness is not kindness, fairness, or morality and simply mocks the very system (and hosts) that allow it to be. Weakness is only the loss of strength… and freedom.

Do you think our adversaries and trading partners want a weak America with floundering leadership? From a position of historical strength, our motivations have been clear. The world – our friends and enemies – knew what to expect. Always.

Weak adversaries are extremely dangerous, unpredictable, and typically desperate. Think about our scariest enemies. Russia. China. They are the 800 pound gorillas staring at us from across the yard. We understand 800 pound gorillas and they understand us. We yell at them. They scream back. We pound our chests and throw bananas at them. They pound their chests and throw poop back, occasionally running at the fence that separates us. And then we go back to staring at each other… and throw more bananas and poop.

But think about the “weak” ones… like North Korea… that are like that “misunderstood” goth kid in school with black hair and fingernails that everyone thinks is weird but harmless… until he brings a gun and 300 rounds of ammunition to validate his self-worth and desperation.

America has spoken. This is what we have wanted and deserve. And on the heels of a massive social push to defund the thin blue line, there is a fervent effort to eliminate gun ownership… You know, just to make sure we’re fully protected from ourselves.

If we were mad scientists, we couldn’t come up with a better bucket of ingredients for social and economic disaster.

Second Shot

Where are our leaders? There are A LOT of people in positions of authority at the Federal, State, and local level that are yapping, flailing, kowtowing, surrendering, apologizing, and of course hiding but where is the true leadership that we expect – and maybe take for granted – as an American birthright (or as voting taxpaying customers)?

It’s been clear for the past few decades that the US citizenry is pretty much adrift, caught between two political parties that have become so divided and divisive that simple common sense decision making appears more like warring adversaries meeting at the truce table, where nothing uttered is acceptable to either side unless it includes complete surrender and an admission of wrong-doing. Bipartisanship is just a friendly buzzword tossed to an angry constituency to perpetuate the facade of civility. In fact, American politics is nothing more than a political football game. Anything the rival side proposes – regardless of merit – is countered, discounted, or dismissed. The result… abject failure and frustration.

But now we’re at a crossroads. America has been at this intersection several times before and has miraculously found the right path, in spite of the fact that there is no yellow brick road with a happy mindless scarecrow pointing us in the right direction. Leadership is now defined by finger-pointers and chest-pokers who apparently ignore history, turning a blind eye to the past. Even when implicated in wrongdoing that would get a rule-follower jailed (or worse), the best they can come up with as a defense is falling back to that annoying kid we all knew in grade school that pointed an angry finger and whined, “NO, YOU!”

It doesn’t work anymore. We’re fed up. I think there is a general misconception with politicians, the media, and fringe elements that find it acceptable – even appropriate – to violate conventions of society with impunity.

The behavior has been indulged, even applauded, regardless of how self-serving, destructive and abhorrent. And while history is rewritten and erased… or smashed… or toppled… and cities and communities are violated, rule-followers watch in shocked disgust – abandoned – left to their own devices to quench the inferno.

The promise has been broken.

But leaders have broken more than their promise, they’ve broken a contract. The government’s chief responsibility is to protect its citizenry from foreign and domestic threats. In turn they thrive under the protections of their political annuity and taxation.

Leaders have abandoned the rule-followers. Those sworn to protect and serve have been told to stand down – watch – as communities are decimated. Lawlessness and destruction is now an acceptable societal pressure valve, with the misguided rationale being, protests are like shooting stars that quickly flash and burn out. It’s simply head-in-the-sand stupidity that discounts the darker side of human nature, gravity, and the laws of physics… specifically those pertaining to wildfires: they spread and indiscriminately consume everything if not quenched immediately.

But that simile could be countered by the web-weavers that would argue that wildfires take care of dead useless overgrowth and underbrush that has been ignored and left untended.

OK, but at what expense and to whom? American history? National security? Liberty? Life savings and investments in one’s community? The loss of “the American way?”

I believe there is the dire misconception with our leaders that the silent majority will stand quietly idle with clenched teeth while a fraction of our population has a destructive tantrum. It’s a dangerously false assumption that will end badly. Americans are – and have always been – a slow burn. History has shown that when pushed to the point of no escape Americans will fight with devastating hate, unable to simply “turn off” retribution. This is nothing new. American history has documented remarkable pacifism until life and liberty are threatened.

But where and when does it end? Democrats and Republicans are in a self-serving stalemate while Rome burns. Both parties clearly understand that law and order needs to be restored through intervention by true leadership.

So why hasn’t it happened… yet?

Because everyone knows America has become a tinderbox that’s been shoved too close to a space heater through decades of failed leadership. Both parties are to blame. Neither wants to take the forceful steps necessary to quell rebellion, especially with an election looming.

Neither party wants to be culpable for the second shot heard round the world.

I fear it’s coming.