The Late, Great United States of America: A Requiem (by ContraSuggest)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

May a once great nation rest in peace.

America was once a place where liberty reigned, where citizens were free to choose such essential things as how to care for their own physical and spiritual health, and such seemingly mundane things as what kind of light bulbs to screw into our living room lamps.  Celebrated freedoms made possible by an exquisitely designed government; various co-equal branches whose powers were dynamically balanced against one another, which made possible, on an unprecedented scale, happiness, opportunity, and prosperity for the largest number of people ever in human history.  But there was more; the American system also allowed for majority rule while effectively protecting minority rights.  There have been many occasions over the past few hundred years in which we have seen an erosion of these rights and freedoms.  Then came Barack Obama.            

With the reelection of Obama, for the first time in the 21^st Century, slightly more than half of American voters have clearly expressed that they’re perfectly comfortable with our country’s government assuming the role of a failed, European-style socialist democracy.  Slightly less than half of American voters are skeptical, and would at least entertain the notion that America could again be the superlative constitutional, federated-republic that its Founders intended.

But Americans lost their collective institutional memory somewhere along the way.  Tragically, to most Americans, the freedoms that we once shared are like some half-remembered nebulous dream or myth.  When speaking to most Americans about constitutional rights, one might as well be talking about the flying carpets of the Arabian Nights, the centaurs of ancient Greece, or the existence of Shangri-La.  The leftists have effectively wiped clean America’s institutional memory; with catastrophic results.  And so America will continue to repeat the tragic mistakes of her past.  It’s important to keep in mind that Americans have recovered from making very poor electoral choices in the past.  After two terms of the dreaded Woodrow Wilson, voters were wise enough to ameliorate that decision by opting for the prudent, conservative leadership of Presidents Harding and Coolidge.  Only to be taken-in once again by the siren song of Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression; reelecting that statist for an unprecedented three times.  Yet, as a young man, I was privileged to have witnessed the triumphant two-term presidency of the great Ronald Reagan.

We may someday recapture a piece of our former glory, but at least for now, the America I knew in my youth is clearly dead.  It’s a different country now; the demons of selfishness and hedonism have gripped the people by the throat.  We must continue to fight the darkness by kindling the flames of liberty and freedom during these sad, dangerous times; and fervently pray for the Divine Providence that the Founders believed guided our once great nation.    

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins

Save us from the fires of hell

And lead all souls to Heaven

Especially those most in need of thy mercy

Amen