Publius Returns

Bling


It’s 2 am and I am at it again. Maybe it’s because I’m retired and the hours in the day aren’t as productive as they used to be. Maybe it’s because I’m obsessive compulsive. Whatever the case, my mind becomes fixated on things and begins to wander. Let me tell you what is on it this time … as if you cared,

It is on my grandchildren. Although to preface my remarks, I think the reason is a bit strange because most, if not all, will be adults when I am dead. Thus I seem to be caring about a future I will not be here to see. Maybe it is not so strange because I see the purpose of human life is to procreate, nurture, and provide for one’s own.

And that is precisely the reason I am up at 2 am. Alternatives keep rolling around in my head. But these alternatives only come to life by providing some background. So let me do that first.

One cannot deny that there are forces about that are hard at work trying to destroy the America I grew up in. And here I must confess the possibility of my naïveté. I see my life as one of immense freedom compared to that of citizens of other countries, of glorious potential for those who are willing to work hard for it, of common sense values and expression, of a haven of safety for me and mine. In a word, I am an exceptionalist. And I will also admit that I am of Anglo-Protestant stock. I am married to a Hispanic and have both Hispanic-Anglo and Korean-Anglo children. We all adopted one another, and we are all Americans.

I see us being under attack from several fronts. This attack is from without, but primarily from within. It is unrelenting, vicious, and will eventually be successful if the status quo of our defense is sustained. There is some evidence to believe that it will be successful even if it is not. The reason is simple: There are no real attempts at defense. In fact, just the opposite.

Which brings me, via a very circumferential route, to my point. I first became aware of a modern vernacular called Bling about 2 years ago. I had little idea what it meant, but after a time began to have a glimmer of its meaning by inference. It is window dressing. It is gaudy jewelry, flamboyant attire, façade.

I live and work in the south. Life here, for the most part, seems unaffected by what we hear on the news. Almost all the cars are new. Pickup trucks glimmer with expensive paint, little BMW and Mercedes cars have become common place. We have paved roads, concrete spiraling buildings, cafes, shops, malls, glitter. Nothing seems changed. It is affluent America as usual. It is bling.

Something is fermenting below the surface, hidden beneath the bling. Is it the illegal immigration problem that is costing America dearly? Is it the economy that is destroying lives elsewhere? Is it the tenuous market? Is it the myriad affronts on our Constitution? Is it the neo-progressive idealism of some utopian world order? Is it a government bent on becoming a behemoth that feeds on itself and all that it governs? Is it the underlying threat of Islam and its growing efforts to install Shari’a law? Is it the Jewish control of the media? Is the apathy of the Christian clergy to do nothing to rebel against the affronts upon it? Is it just a matter of the ignorance of people toward and about what is happening?

Below the surface there is decay. Let me use an analogy. Imagine a large concrete slab on ground. We walk on its surface and feel the solid stability of it under out feet. We feel secure. The surface is familiar and although not particularly attractive, it represents safety, something apart from the fickleness of mother earth. All is well. But unknown to us there is a void in the ground below the surface. Over time, the void begins to enlarge, bigger and deeper. The slab was designed to be supported by the ground upon which it sits. There comes a time when the slab cannot support our weight without the ground below it. Suddenly, and without warning, the slab fails under our feet, giving way suddenly, catastrophically. Bling. The slab was bling. It hid what was really going on. It hid the decay below its surface, an unseen menace.

How long does it take for the decay below the surface to result in failure? I have this feeling that my life will not change with catastrophic collapse. But I am afraid that my children and their children will be caught in a situation that they cannot control, that they cannot run from and cannot survive. For what we see on the streets and in the cafes and in the malls and all around us is bling, façade, surface tinsel, glittering with a relentless suggestion that all is well.

But some do see it, and some are doing what little they can about it. The question is whether or not it will have any affect. Let us, for just a moment, analyze the various and immediate alternatives. Let us, for simplicity sake, assume two opposing outcomes in the coming elections of 2010 and 2012. First, say the Democrats are able to retain control of congress and the administration, both of the nation and of the majority of the states. Second, let us assume the alternative, that is, that the Republicans win those seats, and in fact, conservatism is restored to the political arena.

The bywords of the struggle, such as Patriots, are good, but they do not represent reality. They represent hope. They are bling. Why?

Certainly, if the status quo of a Democratic majority run government retains power, this country becomes a socialistic state. It will spiral downward on a quickened pace. I think we all know that. Some like the idea. Some don’t understand it.

How much better is the situation if we are able to restore conservatism to the all the houses, both Federal and State? I will venture an educated guess: Almost none. Why? Because over the past 100 years the psyche of the American mind has been altered. We are not proactive in defending ourselves, but instead reactive. Because the American people have been made to be irrelevant. It no longer is an America of the people. Those in positions of power no longer listen to or care what the people want or think or object to. They are a club that listens to its peers, not its constituents.

I see 6 primary threats to our way of life and culture. I have ordered them as 1 being the least threat to 6 being the greatest … in my opinion. Some will disagree with the order. Some might add more. Unfortunately, a great many will not agree.

1. The pouring of significant numbers of illegal aliens across our southern border.
2. The infiltration of Islam and its credo to change all governments to Shari'a law.
3. The apathy of Americans and the failure of the clergy to rebel
4. The Jewish intellectual, entrepreneur, and media
5. The Obama administration and the liberal progressives behind them
6. The ignorance of the bulk of the American people. That is: Obama is the prince of fools.

Without resorting to the current set of buzz words, let us, in future, explore each in turn.