The end of America? It’s not that hard to imagine

Lately, we keep hearing about this or that “threat to the republic,” ironically mostly involving something Republicans are doing or purporting to do, but I’m starting to think maybe (stop me if you’ve heard this before) the real threat is a cabal of powerful people who don’t want to give up power.

My recent column about the parallels between a science fiction novel and the Biden White House raised a couple of key questions: How much of what we know “for certain” is just a reflection of dubious assertions we have been told so often that we take them for granted? Assertions that, if not lies, are untested allegations and assumptions that fit a narrative we have been programmed to accept at face value?

In other words, how much of what we know for sure is just wishful thinking (ours, or someone else’s)? Are we living in some kind of mass psychosis that lets us forget about real and present dangers to our nation and our future while we focus on boogeymen?

Think about the situation on our southern border. Even a few short years ago, it would have been unimaginable that the government would allow, and even encourage, millions of foreigners to enter our nation without following the rules, without being vetted, and very possibly without good intentions. Powerful corporations and politicians have turned illegal immigration into an art form, and we are supposed to just nod and go along.

And what about the concerted attack on the First Amendment that was written to guarantee our human rights of free speech, freedom of religion and freedom to assemble? How frightening is it that a moderately dangerous virus like COVID-19 could be used by technocrats and bureaucrats to justify suspending constitutional protections?

But for mass psychosis, you can’t beat the oft-repeated claim that the 2020 presidential election was the “most secure in American history.” That whopper first surfaced on Nov. 12, 2020, less than 10 days following the official election date and well before most of the votes were canvassed and officially recorded, and yet it was parroted by the mainstream media as gospel truth. Twitter said it, so that settles it.

This haughty pronouncement actually wasn’t originated by Twitter, although it’s hard to remember that these days. No, the “secure election” claim was made by the executive committee of the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, without any investigation of claims of fraud and without any explanation for how the committee members determined the election to be the “most secure.” Essentially, they were saying: “We run the elections, and you can trust us.”