2015. Where have the decades gone? It seems like just a few days ago I was a young man and the world was waiting for me. As a kid I used to have conversations with my friends about the year 2000, how old we would be and what we might possibly be doing by then. But geez... the new millennium happened 15 years ago now. Where did the time go?
2015 brings many challenges to the United States of America. We go into it with some very serious things already on the table. The Middle East is a hotbed of violence. Despite the past best efforts of our military the Taliban remains in active status and ISIS is building a formidable army that is systematically taking territory in Iraq and Syria and wiping out local opposition by executing tens of thousands of innocent people. Our limited air strikes are doing little to deter them.
Our military is being decimated - not by a foreign enemy but by our own government. Budget cuts, fired top leaders, and pink slips being handed out to soldiers on the battlefield in Afghanistan, as well as VA atrocities and cuts to benefits for our wounded warriors are all destroying morale and our strength in this very violent world.
Iran is involved in development of nuclear materials, with the blessing of the Obama administration it seems, and rather than increasing sanctions against them we have loosened sanctions. The President is even talking about re-opening a US embassy in Iran, despite their current and ongoing threats to wipe our strongest ally, Israel, off the map. I have difficulty understanding that.
Islamic violence in the world is at an all time high. President Obama likes to deny that the terrorist groups have anything to do with Islam but since they kill and blow things up (including themselves) in the name of Allah the President would be wrong about that.
China has emerged as the leading economic power in the world and Vladimir Putin is now one of the most respected presidents - due to his show of strength and authority in various situations. He bailed our president out of his "red line in the sand" fiasco with Syria a few years ago, making Obama look weak and making himself look like a true world leader. And when he invaded Crimea we did virtually nothing that hurt him. His currently failing economy is now due more to the Saudis cutting oil prices, which is hurting the Russian economy because their main source of income is oil exportation.
Here at home we have some very slow growth in our economic status but unemployment and underemployment is still high despite the misleading numbers put out by the White House. They fail to mention the fact that millions of people have now dropped out of the work force and many are only working part-time. Their numbers look really good - until you look a little more closely at the truth.
The President says that our borders are more secure than ever - even as America watched hundreds of thousands of people cross the Southern border in 2014. The Border Patrol sued the federal government for not allowing them to do their jobs. Over 5000 repatriation hearings were held in 2014 with 96% of them being held in-absentia because the illegal aliens were given court dates and released. But hey - who could have seen that coming?
Black/white racial tension in the United States is on the rise following several incidents in which the President himself decided to take sides - even while telling the American people it was not his place to take sides. Obama, Eric Holder and New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio threw police officers in general under the bus following an incident in New York and the result was an all out assault on law enforcement officers, with numerous incidents of shots fired a police and two in New York murdered in cold blood as they sat in their vehicle.
New York's finest have become so disgusted with their mayor that they turned their backs on him when he spoke in public. This drew backlash from the police commissioner but the mayor, the commissioner and the American people got the message. The mayor and commissioner are opening a dialogue with several police unions in New York in an effort to mend the rift.
Meanwhile, white critics of President Obama are continually being called racist for those criticisms regardless of the topic or the facts of the criticisms. It's an easy response. "You think the President did the wrong thing here? You're just a racist." Or "You're criticizing the President for his deal with the Castros or with Iran? Take off the white hood."
It's pathetic that Americans cannot have political disagreements anymore without the race card being played simply because Barack Obama is black. Those who automatically label someone racist with complete disregard of the facts of the conversation really only show their own ignorance. But I'm not too worried about it, honestly. If Hillary Clinton runs for President in 2016 I will no longer be a racist. On the day she announces her candidacy I will instantly be transformed from a racist into a sexist!
Sadly shaking my head....
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