by CJ Clark, Featured Contributor
WATCHING THE NEWS is just plain depressing. In my news feed this morning are stories of Iraq, Russia, our borders, Ebola, Israel and Hamas, and a very compelling story titled “Why Charles Manson Fascinates Many.”
Okay, you probably picked up my sarcasm on that last story. With everything else going on, who the heck cares about Charles Manson?
Most people will pick up sarcasm or mockery, right? Because the statement is actually so absurd that it stands out beyond the realistic.
So the White House imposes sanctions on Russia for their hostile actions against Crimea and now the apparent aggression toward Ukraine. One school of thought puts Russia indirectly behind the trigger that took down a commercial airliner.
Our response? Sanctions.
Not to be outdone, Putin imposes sanctions against all western food. Do we see the mockery here?
Russia relies on imports for their food; they do not produce enough food to feed their citizens. So either Putin is really sticking it to the west with this ironic mockery, or they plan to go elsewhere for food. And there are other places to go.
CNN reports that “someone” has created a laser show that projects onto the American Embassy in Russia wishing Happy Birthday to our President, who is pictured eating a banana. Well that’s certainly flattering.
It is truly frightening that we have a leader of what (still?) is the most powerful country in the world who is being mocked by a thug, and apparently doesn’t even see it.
I wish to God that Obama was right – that we, in the 21st century have evolved to the point where we seek mature, non-violent solutions to our world problems. But anyone who thinks that we are, or ever will be, mature when it comes to our actions and human beings, is just plain naïve.
We were the rational, mature and strong country with a moral code of which we could be proud. We took pride in the fact that, while things didn’t work perfectly, they worked pretty well. Now we are apologizing for being strong. We are apologizing for being powerful. We are apologizing for being who we are.
And that is just plain scary.
We have allowed ourselves to be so petty that we are now divided and at odds, rather than collaborative. We are right-left, east-west, and the wedge between sides keeps digging deeper so that we mock the other side.
It didn’t used to be this way. It doesn’t have to be this way. But since the day Obama stepped into the political scene, he has driven the wedge between groups, derided everyone who doesn’t think like him, and blamed the “other guy.”
Is he really that naïve, or does he know exactly what he is doing? Perhaps that is a rhetorical question. Perhaps we should endeavor to answer it.
