Examining the Culture

Liberal comedian and social commentator Bill Maher recently opined about the Chinese Communist government’s growing dominance over the United States.  He referred to Americans as “silly people” and rhetorically asked, “Why are we sleeping?” in reference to the fact that the Chinese are eating our lunch seven ways from Sunday.

He then answered his own question saying, “We aren’t sleeping; we are spending our time teaching and assisting little boys how to become little girls!  And, if we aren’t busy doing that, we have the Sec’y of Defense responding to an order from the ‘commander’ in chief, designing stylish new uniforms for pregnant soldiers.”

Maher went on, “Nothing ever moves in this impacted colon of a country. We see a problem and we ignore it, lie about it, fight about it with each other, endlessly litigate it, sunset clause it, kick it down the road, and then write a bill where a half-assed solution doesn’t kick in for 10 years; and then the half-assed bill is forgotten.”  Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party sees a problem and they fix it.  They build a dam, while we debate what to rename it, so it doesn’t offend anybody.

As a proud American who once wore the uniform of our country combatting communism in Southeast Asia, it absolutely sent shivers down my spine when Maher said, “We’re not losing to the Chinese Communist Party, WE LOST! the returns just haven’t all come in yet.”

Maher who is known for his incisive wit, political satire and sociopolitical commentary made it abundantly clear that in his opinion we have moved away from the hopefulness of the American Revolution and replaced it with the fascism of the Cultural Revolution.  In today’s America a man in blue receives less respect than a man in a dress.  And if my neighbor stomps on and then burns Old Glory in the middle of Bridge Street the “woke” would call it “freedom of expression,” but if he were to do the same to a rainbow or BLM flag, he’d likely be charged with a hate crime and harassed out of the county by the cancel culture.

And speaking of the cancel culture, it’s beyond intellectually dishonest to compare or judge the Founders, who lived 250 years ago, by the moral standards of our own day, yet that’s exactly what the hypocritical cancel culture does.  Closer to home, I give the Vail Daily editor Nate Peterson credit for ignoring the calls & emails he receives asking that I be eliminated i.e., “canceled” from the Daily’s stable of commentary writers.  The First Amendment be damned; the cancel culture is alive and well right here in Happy Valley.

And when those emails reach my inbox, it’s common to be referred to as a “traitor, moron, idiot, or liar” (take your pick.)  Interesting too, those descriptors are always preceded by a very specific transitive verb beginning with the sixth letter of the alphabet—ah yes, the civility and decency of the cancel culture!

Meanwhile, we have a president who seems to believe walls are racist unless of course political elites live behind them as his administration passively watches the more than one million illegal aliens who have entered this country since January, with several hundred thousand more expected by year’s end.  Adding insult to injury, many of those here illegally are being put up in $350/night hotel rooms while homeless veterans live in the streets.  And I wish someone would explain to me how it makes sense for the administration to even contemplate a mask mandate while allowing the vast majority of those crossing the border to enter this country without being tested for COVID.

We should also find it disturbing that elected officials in Washington embrace a specious critical race theory in order to convince members of one race that they are perennial oppressors, while telling members of another race that they’re perpetual victims, and then attempt to remedy this artificial construct with policy they refer to as “Equity.”

One can spend hours examining the social ills of this country but what it all boils down to is this – where are we headed?  Only the good Lord can answer that; but considering an incoherent COVID response where rules and guidelines seem to change weekly, gas prices above $4.00/gallon and rising, increasing violence on our city streets and an economy weakened by inflation, you do the math.

Quote of the day: “Do you know who doesn’t care that there’s a stereotype of a Chinese man in a Dr. Seuss book?  China!”—Bill Maher