America's National Identity Crisis
How the Erosion of 'Checks and Balances' Clouds Our National Identity
Did you have a Happy Independence Day?? Do you believe the democratic experiment of the United States of America may come to an end after 248 years?
I’ve purposely kept quiet on the most recent presidential debate and the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. I’ve kept my ingestion of the news to a minimum to maintain my own harmonious balance. I appreciate anger and frustration. But I can’t do hysteria.
With respect to the presidential debate, I did not watch it. I made it a point to be out of the house while it was on. As much as I prefer to hear things first hand, I decided to settle for recaps because the debate has no bearing on my voting decisions. When I returned home, I saw the last 5 minutes. I thought our President’s voice sounded weaker and that he didn’t answer the last question well. But oh well…
Then about 10 minutes into the recap, I simply turned off the television. Since it was already a Thursday night, I decided to keep the political punditry at bay through the weekend. I also expected that the looming SCOTUS presidential immunity decision would overtake any post-debate chatter. I don’t know that the SCOTUS ruling overtook the post-debate chatter, but it did put it into perspective. After consuming a little bit of the reaction to the ruling, I decided again to turn off the television.
Turning off the television is not me putting my head in the sand. Turning off the television alleviates the cognitive load on my brain and the emotional energy that all of pundits have taken up and frees up energy for me to think about what to say and I have a lot to say. Before I get going I’d like to remind everyone again of my intention.
The intent of this newsletter is to address the many things that throw us off balance. With the hope that we can make steps towards balance if we come to grips with what throws us off-balance. And the political landscape here in the United States seems to be as off-balance as it gets for a democracy. I know we like to act like politics is this totally separate entity that has no real bearing on daily life. Or that it is a separate entity that we have no real connection to. Well these two ideas couldn’t be further from the truth. We are in a serious spiritual crisis here in the States. When I say, spiritual, I’m not talking about religion, I’m talking about our identity and intention as a nation. Spiritual energy exists whether we acknowledge it our not. We are governed by the outcome of political contests whether we like it or not.
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NOW BUCKLE UP!!
Did a black man’s ascension to the presidency really unleash all of this madness??
Yes. Yes. And yes again!
How can I say ‘yes’ given that this madness has been building long before Barack Obama even ran for president? Well if you look at history, especially the last 50 years or so, all of the madness was on a leash. It was out there for the world to see but contained with hopes that leashed efforts would prevent such an ascension. Upon realizing that remaining on a leash did not work, the leash began loosening during the Obama presidency. Then came along someone who was willing to sever the leash entirely granting permission to anyone with any level of inclination towards his purported grievances to throw caution to the wind.
I’ll come back to this question momentarily…
When it comes to our national identity, we need not look further than our founding documents to understand who we are supposed to be as a nation. In my view the Declaration of Independence outlines who we are as a nation and the Constitution describes how our governmental structure reflects our identity. My summation of the Declaration of Independence is that we are indeed the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Given the current state of affairs, if you are like me and have never fully read our founding documents, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States and all of its amendments including the Bill of Rights, or if you would like to re-read these founding documents, I encourage you to do so. Yes the English is very old, but not incomprehensible. And these documents are not a very long read.
We are home of the brave because we took the bold step to challenge seemingly invincible oppression. Our Declaration speaks to how it is typical for mankind to simply relent to suffering and not fight back. But there came a point when the long train of abuses and usurpations were no longer tolerable and our founders saw it as their duty to throw off such Government.
We are the land of the free because we know that freedom is a God-given right to all. I find it remarkable that the spirit of America is birthed from an unction that could not be quieted—that our mere humanity deems us inherently worthy of better—inherently worthy of the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
The Declaration goes on to list all of the repeated injuries and usurpations of the King of Great Britain. I won’t list them all but I find them illustrative of the behavior that would NOT be tolerated in our newly formed government. Seven of those repeated injuries and usurpations include:
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners;
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, (1) establish Justice, (2) insure domestic Tranquility, (3) provide for the common defense, (4) promote the general Welfare, and (5) secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The Preamble clearly states the five objectives for the Constitution. The Constitution along with its 27 amendments provides instruction for a federal government consisting of three co-equal branches that serve as checks and balances to one another to insure that these five objectives are met.
The Constitution is not a definitive document. It can be amended and provides instruction on how to do so. The Ninth Amendment states that we are indeed not limited to the rights listed in the document and that other rights should not be denied. The precepts of freedom are clear and the boundaries for which our government should operate within on a fundamental level are plainly written.
Even when we look at our nation’s most iconic symbols, they all speak to freedom and unity.
We are the U-NI-TED STATES OF AMERICA
e pluribus unum—out of many, we are one
The LI-BER-TY BELL
with liberty and justice for all
The STATUE OF LI-BER-TY, bearing the words, Give me your tired, your poor,
Has anyone ever taken the time to understand why our symbols of liberty and justice are embodied by women?
Even citing one nation under God and in God we trust—to me that’s an acknowledgment of our guiding light—the character of God. Our Creator, the One who has endowed us with inalienable rights. Clearly, God’s will is not oppression. That’s the inception of these United States of America.
So what’s the confusion??
Quite frankly there is no confusion. Rather an insistence to be dissonant; an insistence to relate only to the trajectory established by our nation’s original sins of slavery, subservience, and plunder. Sins that were erroneously justified by senses of superiority and entitlement that say God meant this for me, not you. You do not pass the public charge test. Not only do you not pass it, your inferiority renders you incapable and unworthy of passing it.
The notion of public charge is found in the context of immigration. However the spirit of public charge is about who is deemed worthy of the people’s investment and representation; who is deemed worthy of America’s promise.
It’s no secret which groups dissonant factions consider to be unworthy of America’s promise. History as well as present-day strategies like Project 2025 clearly show which groups of people face aggressive, systemic resistance when seeking to access their inalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. History has shown than our system of checks and balances does not readily hold for these groups of people. That lack of integrity is now culminating in the moment we find ourselves in today.
The national identity crisis we face today is the national identity crisis that has always been. In my opinion, it’s latest iteration is in response to our 44th President. Every aspect of Barack Obama’s story makes up our dissonant countrymen’s worst nightmare. The former president’s ascension put their cause against the ropes but they found a lifeline in their legislative and judicial friends. The only missing piece was a ruthless executive and they have found that missing piece.
Today, our dissonant identity has its best chance of no longer being dissonant. Come this fall, after votes have been tallied and any subsequent election disputes have been settled, we will know if the ideals plainly outlined in our founding documents prevail. We will then know if our democracy indeed has only weeks to live.
Onward to unity, freedom, bravery for the greater good, and Harmonious Balance, my friends,
Johanna
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