Are parts of America being governed by frauds and fools, or just plain knuckleheads? I realize this question is a most unusual one to put forward, but the Year 2020 may be sufficient evidence to warrant answering that question in the positive. Perhaps I should expand on the thinking behind my answer. Here are three questions that occurred to me as I reflected on events over the last six months.
Why Did The So-Called Medical Experts Recommend Shutting Down The American Economy?
America’s economy was shut down because of a coronavirus that no one fully understood at the time or even at present. I am still at a loss to understand why this shutdown was done. Was this coronavirus deadlier or more contagious than other viruses that have come at us over the years? From what I surmise, I do not think anyone can answer that question. Did the media bias the reporting to make it sound worse than it was? Why didn’t the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have flexible action plans at the ready to respond to so-called killer viruses, if this is what America and other countries around the world were facing? Why was there so much misinformation and misrepresentation making the rounds, especially in this, the 21st Century, when we have 24/7 news and Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms brag that we are totally connected now? And here is the most astonishing question of all: Was the cure (this total shutdown) egregiously worse than the disease? Thoughtful people would have to pause before they answer that question. From a total social and economic cost analysis, the cure was indeed worse. We cannot even begin to understand the damage that has been done to America. We can easily understand the number of COVID deaths (which are probably overstated), but what is not seen is the economic and social damage that has been wrought by bureaucrats and a politicized culture.
All of the above notwithstanding, I still believe that Americans are resilient and tough, and America will come back from this nonsense, a stronger, wiser, and better nation. My simple solution is just to get the government out of the way and let Americans work their magic.
Are Progressive Mayors And Governors Inept And Incompetent?
The horrific death of Mr. George Floyd, a black American, in Minneapolis in May 2020, sparked a series of protests in cities across America. These protests morphed into conflicts between protestors and police, and the burning and looting of downtown areas in Minneapolis, Seattle, and Portland. The so-called progressive mayors of these cities responded to these protests with irrational and illogical decisions that clearly endangered the safety of the law-abiding citizens in their respective cities. Protestors were allowed to destroy property and burn buildings without any pushback by the police. Moreover, the protestors were not held accountable for their egregious behavior by the media and the politicians on the left. What accounts for these journalistic and political lapses is anyone’s guess?
These mayors made public announcements, which would have been judged as malfeasance in office in an earlier time. One of the worst was the notion that the police should be defunded. I cannot even begin to understand how the mindset of these mayors evolved to their current state. These same mayors gave short shrift to the individuals whose businesses were being destroyed.
A similar failure in common-sense leadership was demonstrated by state governors who opted to shut down their states with draconian measures in response to the coronavirus. Again, the evolution of the thinking that guided these governors is difficult to comprehend.
I can only use my own state of Nevada as an example here. Governor Sisolak took steps that made no sense to most Nevadans. He decided that only essential businesses would remain open. The determination of what was essential and what was non-essential was an arbitrary one. That decision alone was suspect and revealed a lack of common-sense understanding of economic reality that has caused untold harm to Nevada businesses. Governor Sisolak’s explanations and updates in his press conferences and press releases only demonstrated more clearly his incompetence and ineptness in governance.
Governor Sisolak and his leadership team did not do their homework or think through the issues that are unique to Nevada. He appears to have blindly followed the example set by Governor Newsome in California, who, at times, was even further adrift than Governor Sisolak. I suspect that most Nevadans and Californians are equally underwhelmed by these two governors’ leadership style and decision-making.
Why Were Mail-In Ballots Accepted As An Alternative To In-Person Voting?
I cannot understand why any state governor would have opted to use mail-in ballots in place of in-person voting. There is no way that any state, regardless of size, has the necessary personnel and systems and procedures in place to ensure that the use of mail-in ballots would be free of abuse or misuse. Nevada went with this approach and mailed ballots to every resident in the state; this is an assumption on my part. I received a ballot, and I assume all residents did as well. What is not known is what data source was used to mail these ballots. Were these ballots sent only to registered or legal voters? No one knows.
I can understand and accept a process that would permit using a mail-in ballot upon request. However, to send out ballots across the state was an act of political ineptness again. No one was capable of foreseeing the pitfalls of such an approach before the fact. At present, we are living with the chaos that using mail-in ballots has caused in a presidential election.
In my opinion, the election system has been crippled and corrupted by early voting, mail-in ballots, ballot harvesting, and failure to validate legal voters. Will America ever be able to clean up this political mess? God, I hope so!
Links
Internal: https://whitebeardwisdom.com/three-reasons-why-mail-in-ballots-are-a-bad-idea/
Internal: https://whitebeardwisdom.com/three-questions-every-american-should-ponder/
External: https://theasianantiquarian.com/
