What Has Happened to This Country Over the Last 7 Years?

Every morning this author opens his computer and looks at several news sites, which sometimes leads him to other sites. One thing they all have in common is a plethora of bad, and even frightening stories. And it is getting worse.

Some days my first instinct is to shut my computer and go back to bed. My heart is broken because I know my country is broken, and I am not sure it can be repaired.

My wife just told me about an incident that happened just outside of our own neighborhood. One woman rear-ended the car of another woman. After pulling off of the road, the driver of the offending vehicle got out of her car to look at the damage. The other woman remained in her car and began backing up at speeds up to approximately thirty miles per hour, attempting to run over the other woman. She managed to evade her would-be attacker and somehow jumped onto the car’s hood. She could see her laughing wildly. Finally tossed off of the hood, she suffered a broken foot, cuts and abrasions, and a concussion. This display of anger and most likely insanity has become commonplace in 2022.

Since the Insurrection in This Country

The number of attacks on peaceful protesters has increased since Jan. 6, 2021, after encouragement from Donald Trump, his party, Fox News, and Newsmax.

On Tuesday, 43-year-old Benjamin Smith was arrested for murder in Portland, Oregon. A peaceful march was in progress to protest the murder-by-cop of Amir Locke and Patrick Kimmons – – two Black men. Smith opened fire on the crowd killing one woman. Five more were wounded, including Smith before he was subdued. Some of the injured were not protesting, they were volunteers who set up the barricades and asked him to leave as he attempted to interrupt the protests. Instead, he fired his .45 caliber pistol into the crowd.

Many right-wing extremists in Washington are out of their ever-loving minds.

This author continues to question the intelligence of the people of Georgia’s 14th district. What could they have been thinking when they elected Marjorie Taylor Greene to the House of Representatives? She is unqualified and not only extremely racist, and she is also a homophobe and anti-Semitic. Sadly, most of the people in her party share her prejudices and she remains in office.

In a Sunday appearance on Alex Jones’ Brownshirt Dance Party, Greene fantasized about beating up trans people for the “sin” of being transgender.

Fascism is alive and well in America. It is wearing a cross, and carrying a flag in one hand, and a military assault rifle in the other.

This author has been a loyal and proud patriot of this country for 75 years, but I do not like this “new and depraved” America. I am angry at every man and woman who abandoned their country and followed the worst man in the world. However, I also pity them. Instead of being proud to live in the most diverse nation in the world, they harbor anger, hatred, and a desire to commit violence. They are not living, they just exist and not for the better.

The United States of America is becoming the colorful and fascinating dream of the founding fathers rapidly. Trump’s fascist-leaning followers cannot stop what is inevitable. However, they can disrupt lives, commit atrocities against real Americans. Only you and I can stop this madness.

Please vote, and vote wisely. Every right-wing politician has become the enemy. They oppose every law, every proposal that would improve the lives of the majority. Those who call themselves “Republicans” today have solidified their joint beliefs in white supremacy, and other forms of bigotry.

We can save this country. Always remember politicians are public servants, and this country belongs to the people, not the failures doing nothing on Capitol Hill.

“The Truth Lives Here”

Op-ed by James Turnage
Edited by Jeanette Vietti

Sources:

Daily Kos: Angry at the ‘damned liberals,’ man shoots several people at police brutality protest, kills one; by Aysha Qamar
Daily Kos: Marjorie Taylor Greene hits new low, fantasizes about violence against trans people; by Aldous J Pennyfarthing

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of 黒忍者’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of kkunurashima’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License