There's no place like home

I can't shake the feeling that I've just awaken in Oz. America voted for change and America changed...overnight...into a place that is hardly recognizable. There is an almost surreal, parallel reality feel to the landscape. It isn't supposed to work this way. The election of a single individual should not be able to so dramatically change what America is. Our national character is not supposed to be a transient element that varies based on who happens to be living in the White house.

Domestic issues have gone through a whirlwind flurry of changes in the last few months. America is increasingly comfortable with positions that are anti-capitalist, anti-individualism, anti-success, anti-private enterprise, anti-constitution, anti-tradition, anti-American culture, pro-nationalization, pro-welfare, pro-state. It is as if a mask has been removed from the left and they have been emboldened to embrace positions that the American people would have recoiled from in the very recent past. We have seen those that oppose the change take to the streets to protest. Those that are incensed are very unhappy indeed. But they are too few.

Recent polls still show President Obama's approval ratings near 50%. Why? Van Jones stepped down last Friday from the position President Obama appointed him to. Van Jones was a self proclaimed communist and that fact was almost entirely disregarded by what passes for the press in America today. ...communist...? Is there some part of 'communist' that people don't understand?

The Senate just voted to withhold federal funds from ACORN. Obama's ties to ACORN go back years. ACORN is intertwined with leftist politics. The House of Representatives has not voted to remove funding from ACORN yet. Again, the media is largely silent in the face of an enormous corruption scandal. The administration has had nothing to say. The left is calling for investigations into the couple that posed as a pimp and prostitute to execute a 'sting' operation against ACORN (some are even calling for charges to be pressed).

Socialized medicine, socialized auto industry, socialized financial sector, an international union providing the ground forces for the administration at every turn. Still...50%? Really? 50% of the people in America today are OK with socialism? 50% of the people in America today are complacent about communists openly serving in our government? That's just on the home front.

The 'bizzaro-world' character inversion of the US extends into our foreign policy. The foreign policy of the United States bears almost no resemblance to the foreign policy of the United States that existed just a year ago. Venezuela, Iran, Hamas and North Korea are treated with kid gloves. Israel and Honduras are treated with unveiled animosity. It seems like moments ago that Iran and North Korea were members of the "Axis of Evil" and Hamas was a terrorist organization. Now Israel is the thug of the Mideast and Iran is a place we should not judge. The attempt by Honduras to thwart the overtures of a socialist, Chavez wannabe, is met with American ire and a series of diplomatic penalties.

Honduras self defensively applied their democratically instituted procedures for dealing with a power grubbing President. What action could Honduras have taken to protect itself that would not have stoked the displeasure of the US State Department? Capitulation seems to be the only acceptable course. How will Obama respond when Israel attacks Iran in proactive self defense? Will we join the cabal of Israel haters on the world stage, sever ties, employ sanctions? The attack will happen. It will happen soon. The administration undoubtedly understands this. Iran has purchased anti-aircraft batteries from Russia. The US has left Israel with virtually no option other than attacking Iran before the batteries are installed. Why?

Is it possible to avoid drawing the conclusion that the US no longer considers Israel and Honduras allies? Where we once pursued strong ties with isolated democracies we now find ourselves seeking to improve relations with Venezuela and Iran at the expense of our relationships with Israel and Honduras. This foreign policy reversal will almost certainly lead to war between Israel and Iran. Hugo Chavez continues to tighten his grip on Venezuela at the same time he is increasing the size and capability of his military. Might the relaxed attitude of the US embolden Chavez to do something rash?

How marginalized on the world stage will the US be when our enemies no longer respect us and our friends no longer trust us? Why in the face of everything taking place do we see less than 1% of the population protesting? Why is the protest still divided so clearly along Party lines? There are only three possibilities; 1. our politics has become so cynical that it is beyond rescue, 2. the complacency of the American people is simply pathological, 3. the number of people in America that are truly comfortable with socialism on a global scale is far greater than previously understood. Perhaps some combination of the three would provide a fourth option. But none of these options bode well for America or her allies.

Throughout history the people of a given state were directly associated with the character of the state itself. The character of a nation reflects on the character of its people. The character of America reflects on Americans. From the perspective of the American citizen we see the actions of an administration, but the world sees the actions of America.