The American Spectator

A Further Perspective

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

It appears America has become that mad land Alice stumbled upon down the rabbit hole. There is so much about American society that no longer makes any sense. Up is down, black is white and right is wrong. We've witnessed the implementation of programs, policies and court opinions over the last several decades that defy commonsense and logic. And there appears to be no end in sight to the madness.

Consider that FDR's New Deal created a government with an insatiable appetite for more money, more federal workers and more bureaucracy which are expended in the most wasteful manner. Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs incentivized unemployment and created generational dependence on government handouts. Jurists became activists by ignoring the Constitution and legislating from the bench.

There exists in Washington, D.C., today, a political climate that considers business evil, hard work to be without virtue, and individual liberty and freedom a plague that must be eliminated.

Time after time, government bureaucrats, politicians, academia, major news organizations and the cultural elite demonstrate themselves to be out of step and out of touch with the American people and their values.

Consider the following juxtapositions.

A country whose national character is typified by the great melting pot is continually being redefined by individuals who promote racial, ethnic, religious, and gender division.

Elected officials who literally swear an oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution casually break that very same oath.

Servicemen and women who are fighting a determined foe in Iraq and Afghanistan are undermined by service chiefs who announce the military's number one strategic priority is not winning these wars but instead to achieve diversity in the ranks.

The Internal Revenue Service -- placed in the hands of a Treasury Secretary who is a bona fide tax cheat -- implements tax policy written by a House Ways and Means Chairman who is also a tax cheat.

American businesses have shed millions of jobs due to inane economic policies while billions of taxpayer dollars are spent to subsidize "green jobs" that lead to nothing other than bloated government bureaucracy.

Washington, D.C. power brokers treat the AIG bailout as a national security matter by covering up details at the same time that the CIA's counter-terrorism policies are widely publicized as if they were part of a national advertising campaign.

Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent purchasing foreign oil while domestic oil fields lie fallow.

In Congress, the term "cut" is not a decrease in spending but is instead only a slight reduction in an expected spending increase that is well-beyond the inflation rate.

Government employees are among the most handsomely compensated in America even though the public sector is the most dysfunctional and inefficient component of our economy.

The President appoints as the nation's "Safe Schools" Czar a lifelong activist advocating the sexual exploitation of children.

The State Department races to support a Honduran dictator over that nation's Congress, Supreme Court and the military as they struggle to maintain a free and vibrant democracy for their people.

Major press outlets celebrate the lives of morally repugnant individuals such as Ted Kennedy, Michael Jackson, and George Tiller and ignore the passing of actual heroes such as Medal of Honor recipient Robert Howard.

A national leader who accomplished absolutely nothing was given the Nobel Peace Prize over freedom-loving grassroots leaders and citizens -- including scores who were killed – who opposed totalitarianism in Iran.

The practice of religion -- particularly Christianity -- is treated like a hate crime.

Officials in charge of the Justice Department's anti-terrorism policies are the same people who worked feverishly to free to terrorist detainees.

The federal government overturns two centuries of banking law by subordinating the rights of secured creditors to the interests of politically-connected unsecured creditors.

The Administration argues that pro-lifers, supporters of the Second Amendment, opponents of the flood of illegal aliens, and even military veterans pose a domestic terrorist threat while actual terrorists who slaughter Americans are coddled.

American citizens and businesses generously donate more than a billion dollars to ravaged corners of the globe such as Southeast Asia and the Caribbean yet other countries that offer a mere pittance dare to criticize our motives.

The Administration's employment program consists of a childish claim of "jobs created or saved" that are credited to phantom Congressional districts and imaginary zip codes.

The cultural elite canonize brutal murderers and cop killers such as Stanley "Tookie" Williams, Leonard Pelletier, and Mumia Abu Jamal while forgetting about the innocent victims they murdered.

The remarkable accomplishments of World War II veterans are denigrated by a president who apologizes for their having defeated Nazism and Japanese Imperialism.

The trial of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other terrorists is moved to the U.S. while the trial of Navy Seals alleged to have given a fat lip to a terrorist leader may be moved to Iraq.

Society dubs as civil rights leaders individuals who work tirelessly to foment the racial, political, ethnic and religious divide.

Partisan advocacy organizations and political front groups are accorded the respect that is due actual nonpartisan think tanks.

The national press literally ignores reporting legitimate news stories.

The fiction of manmade global warming is promoted by dishonest scientists using fake data. Global warming cheerleaders stubbornly refuse to acknowledge facts that undermine their silly beliefs.

After a president declares no lobbyists will work for him he immediately appoints high-powered lobbyists to positions throughout his Administration.

Elected officials engage in world record-setting government spending while making the absurd claim it will grow the nation's economy however, it only results in world record deficits.

By any measure, the U.S. leads the globe in spending the most money on public education and yet, academic performance continues to plummet.

The political left finds it reprehensible that U.S. intelligence agencies listened in on telephone calls between suspected terrorist cells in the U.S. and known terrorist entities abroad but are silent when school officials spy on minor-aged children using school-issued laptop web cameras.

American families are told their taxes will increase "not one single dime" yet legislative measure after measure includes billions in new taxes they will be forced to pay.

Intrepid journalists who expose a massive fraud on a national level are treated like street thugs while the criminal organization they uncover is viewed as the victim.

Sadly, we could go on listing more examples. But it is not necessary. It is abundantly clear the wheels have come off the cart of America. How we got here is not really important. How to get our nation back on track is.

Perhaps this explains the emergence of a tea party. A bit of a mad tea party, at that.