From Elections to Shootings: America Is Broken

It is noteworthy that the stalled Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA) renewal effort became a huge controversy, prominently headlined during this past week, as the Northern Illinois University shootings wreaked indescribable horror and tragedy on yet another progressive and enlightened college campus.

Both situations are symptomatic of a twisted modern culture, based on the perverted premise of "political correctness." Both portend more harm to be visited on innocent Americans. And, instead of real solutions, both will virtually ensure the hasty implementation of "fixes" that invariably offers more of the liberal disease to cure its symptoms.

We are told that Steven Kazmierczak, the latest mass murderer, was not really responsible for the mayhem he caused, since he was off of his medications. Yet nobody seems to be asking why events of this nature were never rampant prior to the advent of these miracle drugs, the usage of which was necessitated in lieu of stern discipline and punishment, the standard method of managing "anti-social behavior," back when it was simply called "evil."

In our modern, open-minded era, grade school children are no longer expected to listen to those in authority, stay in their seats, or restrain their brutish urges. While an abundance of rules exists, young people are rarely punished for failing to submit to them. Instead, they are "diagnosed" as having physiological problems and subsequently drugged into a compliant stupor, never learning that wrong actions reap negative consequences.

Amazingly, the liberal social architects who invented this course of action incessantly tell us that, as a result of their superior approach to child rearing, things have improved. Try walking through a typical mall or sitting outside of your car in front of the local fast-food establishment while watching the current generation in action. See if you really believe such drivel.

Nevertheless, those who have created this mess, from Dr. Spock to the current cadre of "family services experts" who will instantly tear your family apart if you even hint that you might swat your badly behaving child or demand obedience to your directives for proper conduct, are emphatic in their assertions that they have made America a far nicer and less violent place. Never question those in authority, nor demand any tangible evidence to support their contentions.

Instead, accept their superior intellect and expertise or risk being labeled as "abusive," whereupon you will feel the intensity of their self-righteous fury.

Schools are turning out increasingly feral and undisciplined students who cannot read, cannot write, and cannot find the state of Idaho on a map, but who have deeply held opinions (all liberal of course) on every political matter of the day. And this enlightened generation is willing to tell you so in language that cannot be repeated in polite company. But the problem, we are told, is neither the ideology being instilled in them in those schools, nor the unwillingness of the education establishment to focus on the basic concepts of math, reading, or science.

Rather, it is a lack of sufficient funding, inadequate facilities, excessive student/teacher ratios (although such numbers are typically less than half of what they used to be) and, of course, inadequate parental involvement. Regarding the last element, it is essential, of course, that such parental involvement be conducted in strict accordance with the premises set forth by the liberal establishment. Otherwise, those "family services" experts will need to be brought into the picture to "fix things."

Consequently, a society that once functioned with a great degree of sanity and harmony (even in those so-called "disadvantaged neighborhoods" where, prior to the establishment of the new order, crime rates and scholastic performances were comparable to the rest of the nation), has now degenerated into a jungle of savagery and violence. Moreover, those who created the mess in the first place recognize that they need to perpetuate their positions of authority in the situation by invoking more of the social direction that initially generated all of the problems.

So, in the face of such a seemingly hopeless situation, where do Americans turn for answers? It is indeed tempting, as this protracted election season unfolds, to consider the candidates and their prescriptions for reinvigorating the decaying culture. But that would be a mistake.

Among the top level candidates from both political parties, nobody offers real solutions. Moreover, any close scrutiny of the thinking on either side of the aisle reveals that both sides intend an agenda that will ultimately further empower the state while stifling the ability of the citizenry to seek any recourse.

In truth, far more winking and nodding goes on between these two camps than is ever revealed to the unsuspecting public. Ultimately, their primary goals will be to further entrench themselves, while silencing their critics.

It is no coincidence that the same social and political forces that have rendered adults too impotent to deal effectively with the occasional youthful dreg turned murderer, are hard at work dismantling the nation's ability to forcefully confront the militant Islamists. Just as we have become too "evolved" as a society to spank the disobedient child, and to our surprise have seen children devolve as a result, so is our government deliberately becoming criminally inept in its efforts to deal decisively with enemy combatants.

In the FISA debate, Democrats subordinated the safety of the nation to their own aggrandizement and that of their co-conspirators, the trial lawyers. Likewise, campus shootings are politically exploited as proof of the need to confiscate guns. In both cases, the plight of Americans has taken a back seat to the momentary opportunity for liberals to create political hay from tragedy.