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Extermination Blues

Author’s Note: In case you’re not aware of what’s happening at the US southern border — if you’ve been inclined to ignore it, if you’ve chosen not to believe it, or if you have no knowledge of or regard for the concept of national sovereignty — this post definitely will not make your day.

While observing the farcical, costly, and profoundly sad political theater (which we can’t call a crisis, of course) playing out at the southern border of the United States, it occurred to me the existential calamity being permitted (deliberately encouraged) to go on there constitutes a classic chicken/egg scenario:

Which did we lose first, our dictionaries or our minds?

country (noun): an area of land that has its government and official borders

border (noun): the line, limit, or delimiting geographic feature that separates one country, state, province, etc., from another

By the time we lose our national sovereignty (remember sovereignty?), it won’t matter which came first. The net effect will be the same: The loss of this federal republic, this grand experiment in individual liberty, which we’ve been giving away since the day it was constituted in 1787.

The deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were held in strict secrecy. Consequently, anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall when the proceedings ended in order to learn what had been produced behind closed doors. The answer was provided immediately. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Without the border that used to separate the United States from Mexico, neither of those countries is a country any longer, by definition. (Cue the obligatory Citizens of the World Speech.) Any quaint, vestigial notions of sovereignty went south (but not to the border which no longer exists), along with equally passé concepts like social order and protecting citizens — their health, their safety, and their economy.

There’s a word for this. It’s anarchy. But, like crisis, we’re not allowed to say that. As a matter of fact, we’re not even allowed to see it (as if the mainstream media would even report it).

People say we’re living in ever more complex times. The truth, though, is that the majority of us have simplified things dramatically: If it’s not on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, or CBS — if it’s not in The New York Times or The Washington Post or if it’s not on Twitter, Facebook, or Google — it’s not real. Period. What could be more simple than that?

It’s hard not to think of the line from the old Pogo cartoon strip right about now: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” I suppose it’s easy enough to take the individual liberty and self-determination we were granted 234 years for granted. That liberty and that self-determination have been whittled away gradually enough that we haven’t been shaken from our comfortable complacency. Besides, anything we might have had to do for ourselves will be taken care of by Big Brother. The good news is that dude’s benevolent as hell, right? The bad news is some wake-up calls come after the point at which it’s too late.

We stood and watched the storm clouds gather
Watched as mountains turned to sand
We let them steal our future
And did not raise a hand
Not quick enough to anger
Far too slow to understand

Here’s an idea: According to the United States Census Bureau, there were 122.8 million families in the US as of 2019. If every one of those families that thinks open borders (an oxymoron) are a good idea adopts just one of the people or families that come into the country illegally and pays all their expenses (which we’re going to do anyway with our taxes) we’ll have this whole mess whipped, at least until the number of illegal immigrants exceeds the number of American families who think this travesty is a good idea.

Finally, today’s Pop Quiz is a three-part question:

When illegal aliens are given the right to vote (that’s coming sooner than you think):

1. For which political party do you think they’ll vote?
2. Why?
3. Don’t you think the political party for which they’ll vote already knows that?

Do the math, kids.

We chose to walk away in silence
Was it fear or apathy?
The noose began to tighten
We found it hard to breathe
Not quick enough to anger
Extermination guaranteed

The chicken/egg question posed at the beginning of this post is actually one of cause and effect: Because we lost our dictionaries and our corresponding regard for language, logic, meaning, and the consequences of losing those things, we lost our minds.

How about now? Can we be angry now?

Mark O'Brien
Mark O'Brienhttps://obriencg.com/
I’m a business owner. My company — O’Brien Communications Group (OCG) — is a B2B brand-management and marketing-communication firm that helps companies position their brands effectively and persuasively in industries as diverse as: Insurance, Financial Services, Senior Living, Manufacturing, Construction, and Nonprofit. We do our work so well that seven of the companies (brands) we’ve represented have been acquired by other companies. OCG is different because our business model is different. We don’t bill by the hour or the project. We don’t bill by time or materials. We don’t mark anything up. We don’t take media commissions. We pass through every expense incurred on behalf of our clients at net. We scope the work, price the work, put beginning and end dates on our engagements, and charge flat, consistent fees every month for the terms of the engagements. I’m also a writer by calling and an Irish storyteller by nature. In addition to writing posts for my company’s blog, I’m a frequent publisher on LinkedIn and Medium. And I’ve published three books for children, numerous short stories, and other works, all of which are available on Amazon under my full name, Mark Nelson O’Brien.

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4 CONVERSATIONS

  1. Clearly you’re speaking from a position of male white privilege stemming from years of systemic racism and xenophobia. Your toxic masculinity is really getting out of control Mark O’Brien. I’m afraid I’m going to have to fact-check and cancel your subscriptions to Disney, Twitter, Facebook and Coca Cola. Who cares if all the refugees escaping from Latin American countries want free education, free healthcare and the ability to vote in elections they know little to nothing about? Who cares that they’re running away from the very socialist utopias that our own smug governments, social media platforms and educational institutions are subtly implementing across American pop culture? Those poor folks are not just escaping oppression and tyranny, it’s those darn hurricanes that are really causing havoc. At least if they manage to escape the cartels, coyotes and human traffickers, they’ll get some nice Biden-Harris schwag when they illegally cross the border and get mysteriously transported to undisclosed locations across the Midwest. God forbid we take care of our own drug and homeless epidemics here in the U.S. first, let alone discover the truth about Covid’s origins before opening those floodgates wide. But that’s just it… my America-first programming is bleeding through once again. God forbid we have systemic patriotism here in the U.S. I better take a knee real quick.

    Perhaps those South American countries should actually use the trillions of dollars we send in foreign aid to address their own corruption and infrastructure issues. You know, give their people a reason to STAY… something like HOPE and CHANGE? But no, we’ll continue to blame everything on 45. After all, he personally created gas chambers, climate change, and made the dinosaurs go extinct. It’s just a matter of time before Don Lemon has his orange heart beating on a silver platter. It’s okay though, Joe Biden to the rescue. The career swamp rat was fairly elected despite him never emerging from his bunker for rallies or interviews (minus Cardi B). I’m so glad he’s such a charismatic and competent politician with close ties to the Silicon Valley tech oligarchs. Heck, even his own virtuous son Hunter is raking in millions on his latest book deal. I never knew drug addiction, pedophilia and buying foreign influence could be such a rewarding career. Really makes me wonder where I went wrong in life. Guess I’ll go stick my head back in the sand like an ostrich now, wouldn’t want to offend anyone with their paper-thin values or bias or anything… 🇺🇸

    • Aaron, only because I want your list to be complete, I’m compelled to point out that you forgot to label me a homophobe and transphobe.

      Among a million other things, it boggles my mind that no one wonders why each of Europe’s distinct countries, all of which are in close geographic proximity to each other, has its own language, culture, and customs. The answer, of course, is sovereignty. The integrity of that sovereignty is protected by borders and closely controlled immigration policies. And none of those countries has adopted Free-For-All as policy.

      As I’ve said before, we’re the national equivalent of Keith Richards: We’re already dead. We just haven’t laid down yet.

    • Lynn, thank you for your comments and your support. I can comprehend what’s being done and why (votes and control). I can’t comprehend why the alleged majority of the electorate permits it (complacency and denial).

      We’re in more trouble than most people can even imagine.

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