Americans have noted, with dismay and disgust, the stunning disconnect between the Biden administration’s extraordinary generosity toward Ukraine and the insulting amount of aid, a mere $700 per victim, offered to those whose lives have been devastated by the recent wildfires in Hawaii.
The Maui wildfires have killed at least 100 people, and the loss of homes and businesses has been beyond comprehension. As with so many natural and man-made disasters in our nation during recent years—whether we are talking about severe storms, train derailments, or uncontrolled illegal immigration—the Biden administration has evinced surprisingly little interest in the plight of those whose lives and livelihoods have been adversely affected.
Given the venomous criticism now being directed at President Biden and his minions concerning their callous disregard for the displaced on Maui, it seems certain that a mix of a carefully staged photo opportunities, public relations pablum, and additional aid will soon be forthcoming to quell the righteous rage of so many Americans, but the mask is already off and the damage is done. Just as in so many other ways, it is apparent that “America Last” is the true philosophy of this incompetent and uncaring Presidency and its apologists, and no fancy dancing will change that now.
In stark contrast, since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one likely caused by the self-evident weaknesses of Joe Biden and his foreign policy advisors, the United States has sent nearly $77 billion to Ukraine—over $46 billion of which has been military assistance. This stupendous largesse has, according to some, been money well spent because it has forced the Russian military to punch itself out in a protracted war they cannot easily end now. However, there are many questions about the long term consequences of U.S policy. Propping up a corrupt regime in Ukraine, one that has long-standing (and likely illegal) financial ties to the Biden family and many other leading Democrats including Bill and Hillary Clinton, while thoroughly alienating Russia could have unexpected and dismal consequences during the decades to come.
The contrast between the official disinterest in the suffering of the people of a Hawaii and the laser-like focus on the needs of Ukraine has been increasingly noticeable, and the evidence that Joe Biden was collecting bribes from Ukrainian officials and businesses during his Vice-Presidency (apparently using his son Hunter as his go-between and bag man) has led many to question the true motivations behind the tsunami of American dollars being shipped off to the Ukrainian government with the absolute minimum of oversight. How much of this cash haul has ended up in the personal bank accounts of insiders and crooks both here and abroad will likely never be known because we are obviously meant not to know, and this sort of media-aided amnesia and cover up has become standard operating procedure since Joe Biden entered the Oval Office.
It’s all a big, horrid mess.
It is sometimes very difficult to find a glimmer of hope amongst the misery and stupidity that today seems to surround us. However, I wonder whether we are at a point when the corruption, mendacity, and foolishness that now defines the daily life of our country has become impossible to ignore—or any longer forgive.
The frustration and fear that has characterized so many of our political, social, and cultural conversations over the past several decades seems now to have coalesced into a cold and implacable anger that is evident in the tenor of our national discourse and the willingness of so many to speak out despite the many consequences of doing so. The surveillance and censorship state we live in today does not take kindly to open dissent. The Americans who our risking their privacy and careers by questioning the official “truths” we are not allowed to deny are exhibiting the same bravery that characterized our nation’s founders 250 years ago.
Judging from what is occurring in our country today—particularly the increasingly vociferous push back against those who seem fanatically intent on turning our nation into a bizarre amalgam of Communist Cuba, a sleazy strip club, and George Orwell’s 1984—I believe Americans have finally had their fill of complying and complaining. As the power to intimidate and bully those who prefer to think for themselves slips away and the revenge of the elite becomes more obvious and heavy-handed, we can expect more and more derision will be directed at leaders who continue to presume to force their views upon us and warp our institutions.
The next period of America’s history is going to be ugly, loud, rife with controversy, and likely filled with unknown dangers. Nonetheless. I believe it will be a regenerative time that will force us to have necessary and long overdue discussions about what our country once was, what it is today, and what it can be in the future if we have the strength to make it so.