The MAGA Lie: America IS a GREAT Country

You have been told, are being told, and will continue to be told, how bad our country is, how dark is our future. It’s a lie. It was a lie 8 years ago, it was a lie 4 years ago, it’s a lie now, and it will continue to be a lie until it not longer serves the purpose of the liars.

In the 10+ years since I retired, I’ve been to all four corners of our great nation, the Northwest  (including Alaska), the South and Southeast, the Southwest, and New England. And then, of course, I live in the middle (MO). From stunning vistas, happy people, and a humming economy, I’ve been privileged to witness a great country, of which I’m proud to be a citizen. 

But if you believe everything you hear, we are a nation in decline, no longer great, no longer successful, no longer strong, and faced with a dark, dismal future, unless you hand over power (lots of power) to people who can only see that darkness.

America IS a great country. MAGA is built on a lie, because its foundation is that once (AGAIN doesn’t imply, it clearly states) we were great, but we are no longer. Let me remind you, that was the slogan in 2016, as well. Let me also ask, when was that period of greatness that no longer exists?

I’ve travelled (literally) around the world, including South America, Australia and the South Pacific, and Europe), and there is no other country that can compare, no other country in which I’d prefer to live or be a citizen. I challenge you to name one. What other nation do we wish to serve as our model for greatness? With all due respect to the citizens of other nations who think theirs is also great, we are the Muhammad Ali of countries on our planet, “the greatest.”

Any politician who tells you otherwise, who tells you….

“We are a failing nation….”

“We are a nation that is hostile to liberty, freedom, and faith….”

“We are a nation whose economy has collapsed….’

“We are a nation where free speech is no longer allowed….”

“We are a nation that [has] lost its confidence, willpower, and strength….”

That politician is lying to you. Again.

When I hear parroting politicians try to sell the idea of a country that once was, but no longer is, great, I question not only their truthfulness but their motivation. My witness tells me they’re lying, because that is not what I’ve seen and continue to see, daily.  Sewing discord and discontent is simply their pathway and payoff to personal power and wealth. 

Selling fear and unhappiness is not a new political marketing strategy (the KKK used it with great success in the 1920’s; Hitler used it to great effect in Germany in the 1930’s). If they can convince you to be unhappy, they can also convince you that they, and they alone, can reverse that and make you happy again, protect you from mythical enemies who want to personally do you harm (who have YOUR failure as THEIR objective). 

But first the parrots must convince you to ignore everything that is good, beautiful, and great about our country, to look past all the so many positives that make us the envy of the world, and, instead, focus on our (undeniable) problems (great ≠ perfect or problem free) that remain to be, if not solved, at least improved.

If you can choose, and you can, “Choose Happy.” Only you can make that choice. Choose wisely.

P.S. Note well, please, that just because something is not YOUR problem does not mean it’s not A problem.                                                                                                                                                                  

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I'll Have a Bud Light

Not really. I no longer drink beer, my lifetime punch-card having been completed by my quarter-century mark, due to maximum (legal, mind you, no fake id for me*) usage in high school, college, and early “adulthood” (which, as Carolyn will attest, is perhaps debatable). And it doesn’t matter if Bud Light actually qualifies as a good beer, or beer at all as some people whose judgment I trust in this area have opined. In any case, that rambling preamble is to make clear that I have no pony in this race, either beer-wise or financially (do not own AB/InBev stock).

However, lately I’ve been in places where beer is clearly the default beverage (at least for those who imbibe,. and I’m tempted to order a Bud Light (which I wouldn’t drink), just to make a point that the I’m not offended by a well-intended but strategically inept marketing decision. (N.b., That “offensive” can was never meant to be offered for sale to the public. Again, according to those I assume have some expertise, the can wasn’t nearly as offensive as what was contained therein.)

What I’ve noticed, however, is that even had I WANTED to drink Bud Light, it is seemingly unavailable, nor (perversely) could I even make some kind of boycott statement, because a skittish bar/restaurant owner/manager has decided not to offer the product rather than risk offending some customer(s). I don’t blame them for that decision; it probably isn’t worth the hassle when there are so many other options that have yet to offend patrons, any more than it’s worth it to me to order it to try to make a point.

If you’ve decided to be offended by the Bud Light trans-supportive campaign and not buy that product at the store, fine by me. I.Don’t.Care. But your boycott has, either inadvertently or, more likely, advertently,  removed MY freedom of choice in a bar/restaurant, making me an unwitting and perhaps unwilling supporter of your manufactured outrage (because, really, what possible difference could this can have made to you personally?). Kind of mutes the whole “freedom” argument, n’est-ce pas? 

And thus my objection, because the culture warriors claim to want freedom, but only if that freedom aligns with THEIR cultural values. Mine are not only less important, but UNIMPORTANT. That dismissive attitude is what I find most objectionable. Not sure what I can boycott to express myself, though.

* Not exactly true, because in Belgium, where I went to high school, you were old enough to drink beer/wine if you could hold the glass; but you DID need to be 18 to see certain movies (e.g., The Prize with Paul Newman & my first celebrity crush, Elke Somer) or go to a club to dance (Beer good, dancing bad; I DO get that the combination can be dangerous under certain circumstances, although if you’ve ever seen me dance, well whatever aphrodisiac qualities might be associated with the activity….). In any case, I did have a crudely forged ID from an altered temporary visa that somehow passed muster with those who recognized the absurdity of the rule in that Catholic country.