What I Believed About America for 78 Years Was An Illusion

Here’s the picture. I was born in July of 1946, making me an original ‘baby boomer.’ When I began my school years, I was sent to a Catholic elementary school. The first thing we did every morning, before prayers, was to stand, face the American flag in the corner, place our right hands over our hearts, and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. This was two years before the words “under God” were added to the oath.

My mother had a large family, and there were family gatherings frequently. I enjoyed them, but did not understand everything they talked about.

Three of my uncles had returned from serving in WWII; one did not. Although I don’t remember them talking about what they did and saw during the war, politics and the state of our nation were frequent topics of conversation.

Although politics were frequently discussed, my family was very patriotic. Movies on television were often stories about battles on the land, sea, and air during the war. John Wayne was an American hero, although he avoided service, citing family responsibilities and his career as a higher priority. I did not learn this fact until I was in my thirties.

I offer you this information, because the truth about John Wayne and the fact that my age group was forced to serve in an illegal war, halfway around the world, for no reason which made sense to me, were critical in my becoming involved in politics.

 I feel obligated to inform you that I enlisted in the USAF after my high school graduation, but was medically discharged in 1965. My recruiter failed to list a preexisting health problem on my enlistment papers. I was a very lucky young man. I was not drafted into what became a major loss for the United States military. Our military left Vietnam in disgrace in 1975.

The first general election in which I was legally allowed to vote was in 1968. I was excited. I also knew that I would always be an independent voter. At an early age I decided that offering my loyalty to a political party would be a display of ignorance and counterproductive. Voting for someone based on party affiliation alone is moronic. Our votes are precious and the best candidate, the one whose policies are most closely to your own, is the only candidate worthy of receiving your mark on a ballot.

I have followed the actions of 13 presidents, beginning with Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Trump is listed twice because his elections were not consecutive.

I did not ignore the actions of the other two branches. I learned that the intention of our Founding Fathers was to give more power to the legislative branch. Their purpose was clear: to prevent any president from amassing enough power to become an autocrat. The men who created our nation despised King George III and were adamant that no president would have the powers granted to royalty or a wannabe dictator.

Until 2000, I assessed the actions of each president based on his service to all Americans, and his decisions which affected our lives. Only one, John F. Kennedy could be labeled as ‘great,’ and one as totally incompetent, Gerald Ford. One man was disgraced for committing a crime, and he deserved the anger he received. Ironically, he was the most accomplished Republican president in modern history: Richard Nixon. Just to name a few, Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency, opposed by all “Republicans” today, put an end to the military draft, and gave the right to vote to 18-year-olds. There were many more and all focused on all Americans.

I began my time as a political writer in 2012. I despised George W. Bush in 2000. I knew that he would be a terrible president. He proved my allegations without a doubt and I rate him the second worst president in history. I was excited to support Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and many of my early articles were criticisms of Mitt Romney. He was talented at placating his audience, but in reality was just another billionaire, placing himself first and our people somewhere farther down on his list.

Obama turned out to be a good president, although I admit to having criticisms about some of his actions and inactions. Regardless, he was far superior to his predecessor.

Now for the worst of the worst. The illegitimate election of Donald Trump in 2016 was very upsetting, but what was far more concerning to me was the changes which began happening within the legislative and judicial branches, along with learning that a greater number of our citizens are opposed to the principles and ideals of our Founding Fathers than I previously believed.

On the morning after the election, November 9, 2016, I was literally in a daze. I felt as though everything I believed in about my country was an illusion. America would never be a great country, and the men and women who led our country were corrupt and incompetent.

Although Trump suffered an enormous loss in 2020, the demise of our former democratic government was escalating. Today, one entire political party supports the end of democracy and establishment of a fascist regime. Six Supreme Court justices bow to Fuhrer Donald Trump.

I was pessimistic after the first illegitimate election of Donald Trump, but after the results of November 5, 2024 were posted, knowing that Vladimir Putin rigged the election for a second time, and our government knows the truth but did nothing about the fraudulent results, I no longer believe in anything positive about America. The country I loved no longer exists, and hasn’t for the last 44 years.

With my beliefs crushed, enthusiasm for my country’s future and hope began to die, I realized that I, too, had been conned. I bought into the idea that no country was better than my own. It was all a lie.

A recent evaluation of developed nations revealed the truth. The United States is far behind most nations in every important category. My America was last in the most important category, quality of life for its people.

Being a senior citizen, I feel the effects of how our leaders ignore the needs of its citizens every day.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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