A Tale of Two Countries

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart

For more than 10 years I have written thousands of articles for newspapers, blogs, and my own effort, my blog, “TheWiseOldFart,”  to inform the American people of the truth.

I feel a great sadness that most of what I offer my readers is about the men who intentionally changed the direction, the future, of a nation called the United States of America, not for good, but for the worse.

I learned what patriotism meant when I began attending elementary school in 1952. I was one of the nerds who loved school. Every day at St. Mark’s Elementary School began with me and my fellow students standing, facing the American flag in the corner of the room, and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

My younger brother and I were raised by a single mother. We were poor, but we didn’t know it because we were happy. Television was in its infancy and was our primary source of entertainment when we were inside our one-bedroom apartment. The screen was only nine inches wide and nine inches tall, but on that small screen a world we had never seen appeared as we turned the magic switch.  

A local Los Angeles station advertised the fact that they offered movies every evening. Many of them were movies starring John Wayne. There were some of his early westerns, but most involved stories about WWII.

My brother and I were too young to understand the reasons for the Great War, but we knew that the men and women who fought for America were doing the right thing. They were willing to offer their lives so we could live in a country which guaranteed freedom for everyone.

My loyalty, my patriotism to the United States of America, has never lessened. However, I no longer have feelings of respect and trust for our government.

Throughout my 79 years I have never doubted that the dreams of our Founding Fathers, including lofty principles, morals, and ideals,  would someday make America the greatest country in the world.

By the time I was a junior in high school, I became aware of my country’s faults. However, I believed that our leaders would learn from the past and do whatever was necessary to make our nation the most respected and revered nation that ever existed.

My hope never faltered until 1981 when I realized that something was changing. Our newly elected president refused to focus on improving the quality of life for all of our nation’s citizens. History proves that his efforts began to move our country backwards, ignoring the needs of the majority of our nation’s people, and championing the rights of the minority to increase their personal wealth. Reagan began the right-wing’s wars on the working class, women, minorities, the LGBTQ community, and anyone who practiced any religion other than Christianity.

Women were making advances focused on equality in the workplace and in our nation’s society, but beginning in 1981 they were once again relegated to being second and even third-class citizens.

Minorities were denied equal treatment under the law. Gay and lesbian Americans were shunned and described as devil worshippers. Our president intentionally ended relationships across the aisle by both parties, demanding loyalty and focus on his policies. Deliberation and eventual compromise began to disappear. Trump declared Christianity as our nation’s only true religion.

Our country’s growing economy began to change its direction. Something new and destructive known as ‘income inequality’ began to establish a ‘class system’ which divided our people. It was clear that the once ‘Grand Old Party’ was morphing into something far from the greatness of the Party of Lincoln.

I failed to understand what had begun in 1981 until the Supreme Court chose our president in 2000. Reagan’s policies were the beginning of the demise of the once Grand Old Party.

Anyone in Washington calling themselves “Republican” today, are lying to you and to themselves. All right-wing politicians are loyal to Fuhrer Donald John Trump, not to the American people. They are in fact, The American Nazi Party.

My America no longer exists. I don’t know what to call the country I live in today. I remember when our presidents were expected to focus their efforts on the safety, security, and advancement of all Americans, regardless of race, creed, the color of their skin, or the size of their wallets. This is far from what is happening in the 21^st century.

Our current, illegitimate president refuses to serve all 340 million American people. Trump expects us to serve and worship him. This makes no sense. He fails to possess a single quality which deserves my respect. In his entire 79 years Trump has failed to display concern for anyone else other than himself.

Over the last six months and 17 days Trump can be compared to Stalin, Hitler, and his puppeteer, Vladimir Putin.

Great sadness leads to one of two things: deep depression or anger. I will never surrender my rights to the worst man to ever walk on the earth. It may be trite and old-fashioned, but I agree with Patrick Henry: “Give me liberty or give me death!” Of course that’s easier for me than for you. I am 79 years old.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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