When the Breakdown of Rationality becomes a Habit

I have been commenting on the political spectacle unfolding in U.S. domestic politics ever since Donald Trump first ran for office. From the beginning, I argued that the undignified scale of it was truly mortifying.

Over the years, my analysis of this mortifying spectacle has proven accurate. However, I was wrong about one prediction: I expected that the irrational Trump-hatred would subside within a reasonable time frame, and that fairness would return to the mainstream media.

That prediction has certainly not come to pass. On the contrary, the madness has continued and even intensified. While sane minds might assume it couldn't get worse, it somehow does. For now, it has culminated in the utterly unreasonable impeachment spectacle in the House of Representatives. This farce represents the shameful continuation of the tragicomedy of U.S. domestic politics that I first outlined in my post on October 12, 2019 (link).

The impeachment investigation in the House committees was a futile waste of time. For the most part, partisan, one-sided witnesses and so-called constitutional experts simply parroted their preconceived ideas. As the process dragged on, it became clear that the Democrats' conduct was fueled by an intent to destroy rather than to seek common ground. It was clear they had no interest in ending this political charade.

Even more astonishing, the forces opposing impeachment—including the majority of Republicans and President Trump himself—allowed themselves to be tricked into debating a phony cause. They fell for a scam, a scheme devoid of substance and reality. It is inconceivable that those who opposed the impeachment would participate in the charade with such willing participation.

Instead of refusing to dignify the unreasonable show trial orchestrated by the Democrats in the House, Republicans and others played along as though there were any real substance to the impeachment claims. This only fueled the out-of-control Trump-haters, who, completely neglecting the basic principles of governance, continued and even exacerbated the already appalling situation.

It was absolute nonsense when Democrat Representative Adam Schiff—a cold-blooded ideologue, liar, and Trump-hater—initiated the impeachment proceedings by claiming to have found “incontrovertible evidence” that President Trump abused his power.

The truth, however, is quite different. Mr. Trump’s request for Ukraine to investigate was legitimate and in the interest of the United States. When Joe Biden was vice president, the Biden family's actions already appeared corrupt on the surface. Who would want a politician to rise to the highest office in the land when he had previously abused his power in the second-highest office? Why should a presidential candidate’s bid for nomination shield them from criminal investigation? Moreover, why would President Trump even consider Mr. Biden a serious rival more than a year before the next presidential election, especially when it was still highly uncertain whether “Sleepy Joe” would even be the Democratic nominee? Schiff’s claim that Trump sought to “defeat Mr. Biden in the 2020 presidential election and enhance his prospects for reelection” is utterly foolish and beside the point.

The mental disorder of the Democrats became even more evident when they argued, through their henchman Adam Schiff, that Trump was undermining “a nation at war with our adversary, Vladimir Putin’s Russia” by withholding $391 million in military aid.

As far as I know, neither Ukraine nor the U.S. is at war with Russia. Neither the Democrats' Russia-hatred nor the lies of Schiff can make it so. In fact, as I pointed out in my blog entries in 2015 (link) and 2014 (link), the U.S. and the EU instigated a coup in Ukraine, installing a Washington-friendly figure, Poroshenko. Then, under the pretense of Russian aggression, the U.S. deployed armored troops and anti-tank missiles to Ukraine and the Baltics. There has never been a legitimate security reason for the U.S. to station troops in Ukraine or provide massive military aid at the expense of American taxpayers.

The Cold War-minded, Russophobic factions in the U.S. State Department and the Deep State national security complex fabricated the idea of Russian aggression and war. They continued to deceive the American public, including during the impeachment trials.

As the primary actor in foreign affairs and national security, President Trump was fully entitled to withhold military aid to Ukraine while assessing corruption. He also had the authority to alter the failed foreign policy toward Ukraine, though that didn't happen. Nonetheless, the proceedings revealed how the left distorts facts, obstructs presidential power, and undermines constitutional principles.

The Democrats also disregarded the conclusions of special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who confirmed after two years of investigation that there was no collusion between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign. Yet Schiff tried to link Trump’s alleged abuse of power regarding Ukraine to the disproven allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

No matter the facts, the Democrats have remained steadfast in their false beliefs. Trump Derangement Syndrome at its peak.

Now, the impeachment trial has moved to the Senate, where the Republican majority could easily dismiss this sham process. But instead, the Republican Party is allowing the ludicrous articles of impeachment concocted by the Democrats to go forward with a trial. This shows that ill-will and anti-Trumpism are not confined to the Democrats and the radical left; they have spread through the Republican Party as well.

Someone once said the U.S. has two political parties: one, the Democrats, is evil; the other, the Republicans, is foolish. I would add that the Republican Party is also utterly cowardly.

Syria - President Trump One-Ups Security Experts Again

To further elaborate on the previous post, I’d like to first present a truth before discussing Syria’s conflict. It seems that almost everything the Democrats, Never-Trumpers, Neoliberals, and Neocons claim is a reliable indicator of falsehood and nonsense. Thus, judging the situation has become relatively simple: One can often get closer to the truth by simply opposing what figures like Pelosi, Schiff, Sanders, Graham, Romney, Bolton, and the majority of mainstream pundits claim. The legitimacy of opposing viewpoints then becomes a matter of personal perspective and emphasis.

This logic is useful when analyzing the US withdrawal from northeastern Syria and the alleged abandonment of the Kurds. By considering the opposite of the artificial outrage from the political swamp inside and outside the Beltway, the reality becomes clearer.

The argument that the US has betrayed the Kurds, who fought alongside us to defeat ISIS, is absurd. With the ISIS caliphate eliminated, Turkey sought to establish a safe zone to counter Kurdish forces in Syria, which it views as an anti-Turkish terror group. US intelligence observed preparations for a Turkish operation over several weeks and concluded that Turkey had serious intentions, which even last-minute calls between Presidents Trump and Erdogan couldn’t prevent. Clearly, the US administration neither approved nor could deter Turkey’s actions. Even if US forces had been reinforced, the few dozen special forces in northeastern Syria could not have stopped or repelled a Turkish incursion.

Therefore, the decision to withdraw US troops was the right one. It avoided conflict between NATO allies and allowed the Kurds to turn to the Syrian Army for protection. The Syrian Army is now moving to the border, assuming control of the region and safeguarding the Kurdish population.

The military leadership and the armchair generals in Congress (led by warmonger Senator Lindsey Graham) who accuse the US of abandoning its Kurdish allies fail to recognize (and likely never will) that the Syrian crisis began with the misguided US regime-change operation against Assad nearly seven years ago.

In my May 10, 2013 blog post (https://www.edwinseditorial.blogspot.com.edwinseditorial.com/2013/05/disastrous-foreign-policy-failures.html), I criticized the disastrous decision to politically and militarily support radical insurgents in Syria. This followed similar mistakes in Egypt and Libya, which already yielded terrible outcomes.

Since then, the chaos caused by the US’s failed regime-change effort has become evident. The US worked alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group composed of Kurds and Sunni Arabs, and the Kurdish PYD, which is aligned with the PKK, a group Turkey considers a terrorist organization.

When Russia intervened in 2015 to prop up Assad and restore Syrian territorial integrity, it was clear that the US intervention – illegal under international law and ethically questionable – was doomed to fail. In its Russophobic, regime-change mindset, Washington rejected Russia’s offer to fight ISIS together and instead continued supporting Kurdish-dominated forces with money, weapons, air support, and special forces.

In my September 27, 2017 post (https://www.edwinseditorial.blogspot.com.edwinseditorial.com/2017/09/why-my-north-korea-resolve-could-have.html), I predicted the inevitable failure of US foreign policy in Syria and its resulting embarrassment.

President Trump's decision to avoid engaging in a war with Turkey prevented yet another costly intervention. This decision, heavily mediated by Russia, allowed the Kurds to finally turn to Damascus for protection. It seems that Syria is now taking advantage of the ceasefire negotiated by US envoys Pence and Pompeo to regain control of its territory. Once sovereignty is restored and national security is assured by Syria’s armed forces, there will be no justification for further Turkish incursions.

Let’s be clear: The US’s former “Kurdish allies” were essentially mercenaries, bought with vast amounts of money and weapons, carrying out the US’s bidding. Their commitment to fighting ISIS was likely more about carving out territory for themselves, potentially creating an autonomous region in Syria or even parts of Turkey.

The outcry from the left and neoconservatives in the US is not only unwarranted, but downright foolish. Notable exceptions, such as GOP Senator Rand Paul and Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, criticized the interventionist policies and supported President Trump’s shift in foreign policy. Meanwhile, the discredited Hillary Clinton, who pushed disastrous policies under President Obama, derides Gabbard as a Russian agent for her stance.

What’s also disturbing is the lack of loyalty within the Republican Party, as 129 of its members signed on to a House vote condemning the President’s troop withdrawal. The military-industrial complex's hold on Washington, combined with the Trump Derangement Syndrome, seems to stifle any reasonable debate on war, even among conservatives.

The disregard for the President’s prerogative to set foreign policy and the viciousness with which the Washington establishment opposes any correction to failed policies over the last two decades is alarming. It reflects a deep corruption of minds and morals in the capital, along with a concerning lack of professionalism and understanding of civic and human affairs.

It’s clear: as far as its political culture is concerned, the Republic is in serious trouble.

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An Earnest Facade of Lunacy: The Tragicomedy that is U.S. Domestic Politics

People who are interested in politics may not yet fully comprehend the magnitude of the undignified and mortifying political spectacle unfolding in this country.

There is no doubt that the U.S. is far too powerful to be destroyed from the outside. However, those outside powers with such intentions need not worry. There is plenty of evidence suggesting that this destruction is more likely to come from within, courtesy of the American people and their political representatives.

The lunacy of the situation is starkly visible in the field of more than 20 candidates initially running for the Democratic nomination to challenge President Trump in the 2020 election. Their stances on political issues are not just different; they are utterly unreasonable, if not downright insane and incompetent. Watching these candidates try to out-left and out-Trump each other in their bids to appear distinctive and exclusive makes it clear: they are unqualified for the office they seek.

Their ideas on issues like open borders, healthcare, voting rights for illegal immigrants, abolishing ICE, Medicare for All, Green New Deals to fight climate change, and a wealth tax—just to name a few—are completely out of touch with the needs of a functioning and orderly society. Even more astounding is the seriousness with which media outlets cover the absurdity and futility of this contest. One can only wonder at the time and effort being wasted.

The overall lawlessness and foolishness of the Democratic Party only serve to reinforce the ridiculous picture painted by these candidates. Need examples?

• Watch Democrat Jerry Nadler abuse his role as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee to stoke partisan divisions and perpetuate the baseless effort to impeach the sitting President.

• Watch Democratic Party leaders and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam "Pencil Neck" Schiff, supported by elements of the Deep State, continue to push the Russia collusion narrative despite the conclusions of the Mueller Report, after two years of investigation, which disproved it.

• Watch Democrats and Never-Trumpers in the State Department, along with foreign relations pundits on nearly all news stations, interpret President Trump's legitimate foreign policy efforts to improve relations with Russia as treasonous—some even insinuating that Trump is a Russian agent.

• Watch neoconservative and neoliberal figures push for war with Iran under the pretense of the recent attack on Saudi oilfields, despite the Yemeni Houthi rebels claiming responsibility and the U.S. insistence on solely blaming Iran.

As I write these lines, a new opportunity for the Democrats to impeach Trump has presented itself. A whistleblower claims that Trump acted inappropriately during a telephone call with the newly elected President of Ukraine. While Trump sees this as just another witch hunt aimed at taking him down, impeachment proceedings are set to begin, further damaging the Democratic Party. In the end, it will likely lead to nothing. Three years of irrational Trump-hatred have clearly drained the radical left of reason and common sense. They seem impervious to more conciliatory approaches in domestic political relations.

Ultimately, if the anti-Trump forces are unable to remove him from office before the 2020 election, their final recourse to regain the White House will likely be a massive, all-out effort to commit voter fraud. This will be the subject of one of my next blog post.

El Paso and Dayton Mass Shootings - The Foolish Blame Game Continues

As I have demonstrated in my blogs throughout the years, social and political problems require remedy at the bottom of the issues. Cosmetic touches and surface modifications might help short-term but lead to further deterioration down the road. 

The two carnages at El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio - both of which took place within 24 hours last weekend - and the expected short-sighted and factually flawed statements in the wake of it make it a moral duty to speak up. 

 

 I outlined the notions surrounding private gun ownership, gun violence, and 2nd Amendment issues in the U.S. in several blog entries. For the sad occasion of the San Bernadino massacre of December 2, 2015, see https://www.edwinseditorial.com/2015/12/guns-in-private-hands-what-to-do-with.html; on the Florida High School shooting of February 14, 2018, go to https://www.edwinseditorial.com/2018/03/amend-second-amendment.html. Aside from providing the normative criteria for private citizens' rights to bear arms in any open society, I addressed the particular challenges the U.S. faces concerning that issue. 

The opposing parties on the issue are, for the most part, mistaken and have been barking up the wrong tree, as I will show further down. To lay the proper foundation for what follows, a citation from the 2018 essay above 'Amend the Second Amendment: "A gun itself – like a knife or a truck or a rock – is an inanimate object that carries no moral value whatsoever in and of itself. Only the human being using it gives it meaning and bestows ethical significance upon it. While proper legislation concerning gun ownership serves as a deterrent and certainly helps to contain potential abuse and to prevent crime, it is ultimately the human volition that decides how guns – or knives or trucks or rocks for that matter – are used."

 

Only instilling adequate regard for human life through proper socialization and education of young people can help overcome the potential pathological triggers for mass-shootings and murder sprees. To name a few of these triggers: self-indulgence, apathetic egotism, seemingly uncontrollable hatred, self-hatred, and lack of desensitization as to the ease of killing shown in video games and Hollywood movies. 

The societal deficits as to this truly human dimension of the phenomenon are ubiquitous and virtually unmissable to the conscientious observer. Is this the inevitable price any society has to pay that praises lawlessness, celebrates moral relativism, surrenders the notions of truth and justice to the dictates of political correctness? The answer to this question seems to be as sure as the observation of the phenomenon is evident. 

 

We arrived at the point where the issue of gun control enters the picture. As explained in more detail (again https://www.edwinseditorial.com/2015/12/guns-in-private-hands-what-to-do-with.html), legitimate and well-informed governments are aware that the right to self-defense and gun ownership, within clearly prescribed confines, fosters and consolidates the State's monopoly of force. Hence, both the monopoly of arms in conjunction with private gun ownership provides a synthesis for a nation's most efficient internal safety and security.

To overcome the confusion dominating the current gun debate in politics and society, an adaptation or revision of the Second Amendment stressing the law's self-defense component would appear conducive. Such clarification would also explain why no privately owned arms beyond handguns and weapons for immediate protection of one's safety and hunting purposes are needed. Dealing with the already purchased and privately owned assault weapons may require different measures, i.e., voluntary buyback or even confiscation of firearms in limited and justified circumstances of immediate endangerment. We know from the Florida incident that if law enforcement had followed through on that latter idea, the event most likely could have been prevented. 

About this aspect, the gun lobbyists and the National Rifle Association (NRA) are undoubtedly wrong. In contrast, the Democrats and many others who demand a ban on military-style assault weapons are right. It should never happen in an open society that somebody commits a mass murder-shooting with a legally acquired AK-47. Such kinds of weapons have nothing lost in private hands. However, how to grant interested people access to handling and shooting such weapons in the controlled environment of gun and shooting clubs I have explained in the essay 'Amend the Second Amendment' (see link above). I also explained why the militia clause of the 2nd Amendment no longer applies to the same degree it did at the time of the inception of the republic.

The currently ongoing blame game in U.S. domestic politics is ridiculous. Neither can President Trump's rhetoric nor existent gun-laws be blamed for the mass shootings. The dubious psychological motivations for individuals to carry out these senseless acts of mass violence owe to the extremely polarized atmosphere of the domestic debate on crucial issues (such as immigration, the rule of law, etc.) and the sheer impossibility of civilized dialogue in an environment of fake news and hateful anti-Trumpism. As violence occurs ever more frequently at demonstrations and political rallies and the bearers of opposing views get bashed and destroyed, genuinely unhinged individuals seem to carry it to the extremes of mass shootings on rare occasions. 

The fact that citizens can privately own military-style assault weapons legally in this country undoubtedly and positively contributes to the magnitude of those killings - although it doesn't cause them - and lays open a flaw in the interpretation and enforcement of the Second Amendment. 

This here approach should allow politicians and lawmakers to find common ground on this critical issue. I have to underscore again that a modification of constitutions and constitutional amendments is possible. Like any other law, the Second Amendment can either be amended or further specified by meaningful legislation. In the case of the U.S. Constitution, standard specifications should underscore the right to self-defense and relate the extent to which people may privately own certain types of guns.

Left’s War of Attrition Bears Fruit: Trump Stumbling – Three Topical Mistakes

The destructive subversion by the united political left, the bulk of the media outlets, and the GOP's neoconservative conspirators finally impact the President's policies. President Trump, surrounded by bad advisors and let down by his party, is stumbling, and erroneous policy decisions and bad 'deals' have amassed. 

It is hard to assess whether bad advice and improper counseling or the weakening of Mr. Trump's leadership instincts and deal-making capabilities are to blame. But the fact is that the constant resistance to any of President Trump's policy decisions and the unyielding hatred and negativity by which his opponents harass him show effect. His judgment appears to be clouded and generates wrong choices and failed policies. Attempts to euphemistically sell them as successful can't deceive over their inherent weaknesses. 

Here a brief analysis of the most striking failures and disappointments of recent months. 

First: Government Shutdown and Emergency Declaration. 

This issue was overall poorly planned and untimely scheduled. When Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer adamantly refused to allocate a single additional dollar for the wall, it was void and meaningless to subjecting the country to a week-long government shutdown. It was clear beforehand that nothing was going to change. 

Pelosi's stubborn declaration – in apparent antagonism to her party's recent stance on border security – laid bare that the Democrat Party and the majority in the newly elected House of Representatives had abdicated their responsibility. It was no longer about efficiently governing the country and cooperating with the President; it was about denying him any policy success whatsoever and assuring his presidency's failure. 

Speaker Pelosi's apodictic refusal to collaborate on the border wall/immigration control issue was exclusively motivated by spiteful ad hominem-hostility toward the President. The conspiracy of Democrats, Never-Trumpers, and most of the media made evident again that they constitute the real emergency in U.S. politics. 

The U.S. Constitution does not allow for the dissolution of the House of Representatives – which would have been the only appropriate measure when the lower chamber of the house ultimately rejected any collaboration whatsoever with the President on the issue of a border wall. Had he received sound advice, Mr. Trump should have designated the complete rejection of cooperation from the part of the house of representatives a situation of political distress that endangered the governability if not, in the longer run, the nation's existence. 

On these grounds, he should have declared an immediate national security emergency and unleash, by Executive Order, necessary measures to resolve the crisis at the border, including allocating funds for the border wall. Instead, subjecting the nation to the most extended government shutdown and procrastinating the crisis's resolution for several weeks was inappropriate and must be considered lousy leadership. 

Second: Breakup of Trump-Un Hanoi Summit

There is substantial evidence that the Trump administration's neocons were intentionally planning to upset the Hanoi summit. A few days before the conference, unknown forces carried out a raid on the North Korean Embassy in Madrid, Spain.

The ten masked attackers were looking for documents and information on Kim Hyok Chol, a former ambassador to Spain and close confidant of Chairman Kim Jong Un. He played a vital role in preparing the nuclear talks with the U.S. Besides, on the day of the Summit, a cyber attack was carried out on the Korean American National Coordinating Council (KANCC) in New York (for more details: Wayne Madsen @ https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/03/18/trump-cia-now-unbound-and-back-traditional-hijinks.html)

Not granting North Korea a gesture of goodwill and easing up on the sanctions sure was bad deal-making. Breaking up the talks between President Trump and Leader Kim Jong Un and letting the Summit fail because of North Korea's unwillingness to denuclearize without getting sanctions lifted or at least lightened has to be designated an utter folly. 

How can a superpower demand total denuclearization and the termination of a decade-long policy without proposing any serious incentives? How easily could sanctions be reinstated, aside from the fact that they barely affect and are highly problematic if not to say unethical? Predicting the North Koreans a 'bright economic future,' as John Bolton put it, will hopefully materialize, but is indeed not enough to cut the deal.

I have explained in my blog essay of September 9, 2017, https://www.edwinseditorial.com/2017/09/why-my-north-korea-resolve-could-have.html that the crux of the negotiations with North Korea is about the issue of guarantees for non-intervention and national sovereignty. Aware that only a minimal nuclear capability serves as the great equalizer and deters even supreme powers from intervention, North Korea justifiably demands reliable and trustworthy guarantees for protecting her national sovereignty and against regime-change intervention. In the essay mentioned above, I refer to and explain Libya's case in 2011 as one of the recent and most striking examples of how a country was betrayed by the United States and "rewarded" for its unilateral denuclearization. 

I have repeatedly addressed the damage the neoconservative influence did to U.S. foreign affairs policies in previous blog entries. The breakup of President Trump's talks with the North Korean leader over upholding the entire sanctions regime is now apparently the next big blunder neoconservatism has caused, this time around perpetrated by the usual suspect warmongers Mike Pompeo and John Bolton. 

These hawkish counselors' bad advice found its immediate continuation with the third failure Mr. Trump had himself talked into – the policy toward Venezuela. 

Third: Interventionist policies vis-à-vis Venezuela

No doubt, the domestic situation in Venezuela and the country's economic demise is alarming. While the desire to help is understandable, we must not forget that the U.S.'s economic sanctions and embargos contributed to the malaise. 

As much as a conservative U.S. administration might deride the Socialist President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and wants to see him gone, the premature support of the opposition candidate Juan Guaido was a failure. Guaido dared to declare himself the rightful President, and Washington's blessing sets another awful precedent in the long history of illegitimate U.S. interventions. 

Unfortunately, the regime-change operation is in line with the U.S.' unilateral interventionist policies dominating three decades since the end of the Cold War. With overt and covert interventionist policies (i.e., Kosovo, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine), U.S. administrations have compromised the U.S.' reputation within the international community. While this interventionist imperialism ended in horrible failures, no lessons seem to be drawn by the American foreign policy establishment. 

On the occasion of Libya's intervention, I explained why all nations' equal sovereignty and the ensuing non-intervention principle is not only a meaningful stipulation of international law (Article 2/4 of the UN Charter and U.N. Resolution 2131 of December 21, 1965). It is, even more, a morally valid norm for the interactions within the global society and its members (https://www.edwinseditorial.com/2011/03/us-and-european-foreign-policy-blunder.html).

 

Although candidate Trump in his presidential campaign promised to end such policies, this dangerous course of U.S. foreign affairs continues under the pressure of neoconservative elements in the U.S. government. 

We will soon find out if President Trump will override the adversarial influence and fulfill his promise to retreat the U.S. from the disastrous policy of waging interventionist wars. Interventions in foreign countries that neither directly impact U.S. strategic interests nor represent a national security threat. 

President Trump's domestic policies (economic, regulatory, cultural, legal) are undeniably successful. It is now high time to align U.S. foreign affairs and national security with this path of achievement.

The United States of America – A Doomed Republic?

The last two and a half years of politics in the United States presented us with the turmoil of hitherto unknown and unprecedented variety in Western democratic republics. The situation has reached a point where the question raised in this essay's title no longer appears far-fetched or inappropriate, as indeed it looks as if the doom of this Republic might be imminent unless something decisive happens reasonably soon.
 
When has anybody seen the political opposition, in utter disbelief over losing a presidential election, engrossed in a policy of destruction against the winner? When has anybody seen the radical political opponent so vehemently and lopsidedly supported by nearly all societal interaction pillars, including print and electronic media outlets, commentators and pundits, academia and education, political representatives at all government levels? When has anybody ever seen such destructiveness and devastation in the wake of democratic elections in an established Republic?

Here is why: A total corruption of the minds and hearts – in other words, want for proper erudition in civic affairs and moral decency – across vast parts of society. The subtle and yet – in its psychological impact – radical cultural-Marxist subversion of society that has been going on for decades claims stunning success.

In the wake of Donald Trump's victory, whoever expected the usual political business continuation must be disappointed. The regular competition between Democrats and Republicans, the typical antagonism between the political left and right as they operate within the conventional boundaries of mutually shared constitutional and civilizational principles, turned out to be much more. It has turned out to be an existential struggle over our entire Western civilization's future, a battle over essential values and principles for Western societies, quite naturally spearheaded by the West's most potent and influential lead-nation, the United States of America. 

This circumstance alone can explain the sheer incomprehensible hatred President Donald Trump faces from significant media outlets and the bulk of the political establishment in Washington D.C. Make no mistake. There is a relentless war going on, not yet waged primarily with lethal weapons, but one in which the Democrat Party and the vast majority of its sympathizers want to bring down this President. 

A significant number of so-called never-Trumpers and RINOs in Mr. Trump's party, assisted by a broad spectrum of globalists and economic and military-industrial profiteers, reject this President and his Christian-conservative policies. They are not only bent on beating him politically; they intend to get him out of the office and utterly destroy him and his family personally. 

It sure appears to be quite an asymmetric kind of warfare. Trump and a relatively small nucleus of government supporters around the White House are waging this cultural war. A few hardcore conservative fortresses in society (such as Ben Shapiro and his Daily Wire) fight against a colossal overload in ill-will and malevolence that reaches far beyond the usual clientele of the Democrat Party and the political Left. 

The gloves began to come off in this 'ad hominem' campaign of destruction about two and a half years ago when Mr. Trump was elected candidate for the presidential race. Since elected and in office, the offensive against him has increased continuously in intensity and wickedness. It has now, at the time of a government shutdown where Democrat leaders apodictically refused to move even one inch toward the fulfillment of Mr. Trump's election promises, reached a new peak. 

How could anybody who has a grain of moral decency left who watched the Senate Minority Whip Chuck Schumer making his hateful statements against the incumbent President still support this Democrat Party? How could anybody bolster a political force led by such a disingenuous and utterly loathsome human being!

But the old ploy of reversing cause-effect relations and blaming the political opponent for one's wrongdoing and devilishness is being pulled off quite successfully by the left. They project their disgraceful personality traits and behavior onto President Trump. When he is rightfully fighting back and setting things straight, they accuse him of being the initial aggressor, evildoer, and disparager of the Presidential office.

It is mind-boggling to imagine what some measure of critical, yet 'constructive' and decent cooperation with the President from the part of Trump-opposing forces could have accomplished for the benefit of this nation and the entire world. Alas, instead, the hatred of Mr. Trump appears to trump all considerations for successful governance and the common good of this nation. If only they can bring down Trump, the left, and their henchmen (and –women) in all kinds of societal strata appear willing even to destroy this country. 

Is there an immediate solution to the ruinous state of political affairs in this country? The same will of the people who elected Mr. Trump and his policies into office must be the will that now ensures that he can implement them. It is on 'We The People' to become proactive, break up the deadlock in Washington D.C. and lead the country back into a productive and constructive social and political discourse.

The Destructiveness of Unfettered Progress - How the Moral and Intellectual Bankrupcy of the Left Destroys this Nation

The idea that change and progress can be potentially destructive and represent decline and decadence goes back to Plato. In essence and applied to our time, outlined mostly in his dialogue 'Timaios,' the underpinning thought is that social and political evolution must always be tempered and corrected by the ideal ontological concepts of man and the various manifestations of his coexistence.

 

 The ancients also made us aware that a democratic republic is in constant danger of perishing due to the inability to deal responsibly with the core element of its political system - liberty. They showed us clearly that once a democracy transforms itself into an OCHLOCRACY, the reign of the mob, it is on its best way to coming apart.

 

When the mob of a society floods the streets, negates the laws and the order their elected representatives have stipulated for that very society, the state of political affairs has reached the eleventh hour. When the proletariat attempts to intimidate the government and openly threatens to overthrow it, the social community is about to descend into chaos and ungovernability. What awaits is tyranny!

 

This development is precisely the reason why so many commentators speak of an imminent civil war in the U.S. I felt compelled to point out that more than a year ago when the country faced the hatred and nasty obstructionism of the left in the wake of their loss in the presidential elections (https://www.edwinseditorial.com/2017/07/a-sick-republic-yeah-dude-im-talking.html).

 

 As I pointed out, the stunning fact in the U.S.' case is that the societal mob does not only consist of disgruntled blue-collar workers or angry hordes of jobless people but rather recruits from all strata of society. It is made up and even led and represented by elected officials of the Democratic Party, supported by many neoconservatives and so-called Never-Trumpers and a considerable portion of the mainstream media and exponents of academia the world of arts and culture.

 

Examples of the rants of renowned people who have apparently lost their minds and probably never had morals are aplenty. They prove how unhinged and utterly unacceptable the discourse on the political left has become:

• Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who encouraged violent harassment of Trump supporters and White House Staff.
• Republican Senator Jeff Flake, Trump back-stabber and open-border advocate.
• HBO show host Bill Maher wished the economy to crash and the country to fail to get rid of Trump.
• Hollywood actor Robert de Niro, talking in front of high school kids of the elected president as a 'soulless, amoral, abusive, con-artist SOB.'

 

A significant part of the electorate shows disrespect for political institutions, offices, and regulations. Even worse, many elected representatives of both parties in executive and legislature at federal and regional levels do the same. They negate one of the prime features of democratic republics: that governing regimes alternate due to periodic electoral decisions. Without a doubt, ill-education and wrong morality have penetrated all strata of society.

 

 I gave an account of how immoral the political dialogue has become shortly after President Trump took office. Once the desperation of the far-Left had shown its real fascist face (https://edwinseditorial.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-tyranny-of-left.html), I made clear what brought about this sheer ubiquitous political illiteracy. I blamed the lack of classical art instruction as the primary cause for the utter lack of philosophical depth and wisdom in many areas of US-American politics.

 

 Let's make no mistake. Despite rapid technological advancements and the globalized connectedness of nations and peoples, only against the backdrop of a century-old and even millennia-old can the core elements of our civilizational social and political arrangements be understood appropriately. The condition of the human being per se – aside from driving cars, using smartphones, and moving in airplanes from continent to continent – has not changed.

 

We avail over the same faculties. We face identical physical and emotional needs. Besides a more substantial oeuvre of historical experience and scientific knowledge, human reasoning and the capacity for moral judgment have not improved. The hubris of progressivism is not only unwarranted but dangerous if developing unfettered and immune to the eternal wisdom of human efforts generated in philosophy, religion, and the fine arts.

 

 The most recent and still ongoing proof to that effect is the widespread ignorance regarding open borders and the bias in extending constitutional citizen rights onto not only foreigners who come to visit or temporarily work here but even onto individuals who entered and remain in the country illegally. It culminates in calls for abolishing ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, as the new battle-cry of the radical left.

 

 In their desperation over Trump being president and, in several policy areas relevant to people, quite successful at it, the progressives move ever further to the left. But as we know, in these times of deranged minds and hearts, hateful obstructionism, and fabricated false news and accusation, there is no limit as to how far the left can go. And the further the left moves leftwards, the more space is being built for blaming even the most reasonable political stances as far-right.

 

While the lunacy of the radical left seems to know no bounds, quite a few people recovered their senses and fled the Democratic Party. New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind of Brooklyn went public and told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in an open letter that he will support President Trump and Republicans until "sanity and honesty to the Democratic Party" have been restored. Hikind accuses Schumer of launching "hard-right attacks" in a recent mailer while ignoring President Trump's "multiple policy victories." Hikind particularly mentions the unemployment at its lowest in decades and economic confidence at a 17-year high, including a record low for minorities.

 

 But these encouraging signs cannot deceive over the fact that for the left – including the neo-liberals and large cohorts of the neo-conservatives – the political struggle has become genuinely existential. As they are looking at the wreckage of their failed policies - pernicious globalist imperialism of interventions and regime-change operations in international relations; deconstruction of Christian values and weakening of the Westphalia Nation-State System domestically - they become ever more desperate. By the way, their policies' apparent failure was the actual reason why Donald Trump and conservative political administrations in Europe got elected.

 

The left claims that they occupy the moral and intellectual high ground in politics. In reality, they are only moralizing without having morals. Life's reality denies their social and political theories the only real proof for any intellectual concept's correctness – validation by success and improvement of human living conditions continuously at any level of coexistence.

 

 But the left's minds and hearts are neither troubled by the constant falsification of their theories by the chaos they create in real life, nor are they disturbed by the moral depravity of their positions. If it suits their goals, they disparage the sensible as reprehensible, the good as bad, and the American (or civilized) as un-American (or uncivilized). Their existential instinct to survive at all costs makes them relentless in their pursuit to bring down political opponents and whoever and whatever else might stand in their way. It also hinders them from acknowledging the deprivation their progressive policies have brought over the U.S. and the entire Western civilization.

 

Indeed, Plato was right when he envisioned that progress must not be confused with improvement and betterment. If progress is pushed at all cost and develops unrestrained, without constructive criticism, and without being gauged against the backdrop of the timeless notions of justice and morality, it becomes a destructive and evil force. We have witnessed this development in recent years, if not decades, but it has accelerated to unsavory dimensions ever since Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential elections.

 At least intuitively, the silent majority of Americans and people who live in western countries seem to be mindful of the wicked ways of the left and the damage caused to our societies' fabric. They voted accordingly and will continue to do so. But the struggle reached existential significance as to the future of our civilizational development – in this country and beyond.