Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. Winston Churchill

Warning: Some Conservative Ideology below.

There’s a line in My Generation by The Who, “I hope I die before I get old.” For me, it’s too late; I’m already there, and I’m glad I am. Why?

I’ve lived too long to see things I never thought possible in my lifetime. Like so many of our citizens (and residents) who see the United States not as “Exceptional” but as a racist-warmongering out-of-touch country created by some old white men, most of whom owned slaves.

This is not my imagination. A 2019 Gallup survey asked young people how proud they are to be Americans; just 45% say they are “Extremely Proud,” an all-time low.   It’s the second year in a row that the number has been below 50%. Fifteen years ago, the figure was 70%.  It’s a wonder people still wish to live here.

As for me, I am “Extremely Proud” to be a citizen of the United States, although I find some trends that disturb me, like the unsettling throng who attempt and sometimes succeed as “Speech Police.” And I’m sure if they could find a way, they’d be “Thought Police,” too. It is PC unhinged.

This abhorrent bunch is probably fermenting more words of flummery into their syllabus of pugnacity as I write.

It matters not if your opinion or comment has anything to do with how you’ve been vengefully and malevolently characterized. Should you have an opinion, say, on immigration — anything short of open borders — you would, of course, be xenophobic; you might as well be called homophobic, and transphobic, too.  You can expect their entire arsenal to be deployed to excoriate you.

These mean-spirited clusters hide behind the cover of curtailing hate speech. In fact, these would-be censors, I am convinced, wish to suppress all speech they disagree with. Think that’s a little much on my part? Keep reading.

“The authoritarian Left is aggressively insistent that everyone must conform to its values, demanding submission and conformity. The dogmatic Left is obsessed with putting people in categories and changing human nature. Everyone who opposes it must be destroyed.” (Ben Shapiro) An opposing view is no longer disagreeable. It’s a cause for war, and in some scenarios, death. Think: Marxism. Think: Charlie Kirk.

Those who self-identified as progressives, in my experience, are, in fact, the most closed-minded people I’ve met. (It was not always this way.) When these impertinent people are about to lose an argument, they resort to especially incendiary name-calling. First, You’re a Racist. Second: Sexist. Third: Misogynist, then Transphobic. Next: Fascist. Finally, You’re Hitler. Perhaps they can draw a crowd to see what a bigot (you) looks like. Their sheep are probably on call to abet and fulminate.

Whether you are the beer helmet type or one who prefers Wadsworth or Proust. You have the right and freedom to contemplate, think, and express your views.

Each of us who values the freedom to believe and judge on our own terms should be concerned.  One person is too many, that is, chilled from their thoughts and speech, for sure.

Now, there are Caucasians who are assuming a role in deciding what is racist. They attempt to smear someone who disagrees with them, suck up to minorities, cover for their past, or try to prove they have rectitude? Maybe all of the above. These cowardly actions sometimes result in one of the most deplorable and recreant outcomes: Race-Baiting.

Then, there is the matter of most conservatives not being allowed to speak on college campuses because they are conservative. Of course, institutions of higher learning are supposed to be places where competing opinions are welcome. I’m for free speech as long as I agree with it. That is what the Uber left is thinking, I’m convinced.

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Here’s a short list of catchphrases; some on the Right call the Snowflake Glossary. These buzzwords might come in handy for common folk when trying to communicate with the more enlightened.

Snowflake: People who require constant protection from anything they might find upsetting, especially experiences that might cause them outrage and/or anger.

Trigger warning: Snowflakes who demand they be given a heads-up before any subject is broached that might be unpleasant for them.

Microaggression: Any seemingly innocent remark or action that offends snowflakes. Greeting a group with “Hey, guys” if there are women in attendance is a no-no.

Safe space: Protecting snowflakes from hearing any viewpoint or opinion other than what they want to hear.

Cultural appropriation: You might be guilty if your Irish mother prepares Mexican food, and certainly if she wears traditional Mexican garb.

Social Justice Warrior: A politically active snowflake who is committed to finding and fighting any form of oppression, all the better if it means oppressing the views and actions of people with whom they disagree.

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Heads up, as I write, a young journalist covering an Antifa demonstration in Portland was viciously attacked by mask-wearing (pre-COVID) left-wing thugs. The young man was hospitalized for three days with a brain hemorrhage. Police were on the scene, and the entire episode was recorded. There were no arrests for the assault on the Asian-American US citizen. The mayor of Portland is said to be very liberal.

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The venom and vitriol spewed today between our political parties, the so-called left-liberals (typically the most vicious, in my experience), especially with Trump as president. Some of the far-left ideologies and accusations are downright desecrating and deranged.

And I believe conservatives on the right make unnecessarily incendiary remarks, like the President himself, and the far right tends to stir the flames even more. So much of the back-and-forth pandering literally makes me sick and gives me knots in my stomach.

Then why do I pay attention to any of it? We should be informed, no matter how vile the rhetoric. But whom do you trust for the news? I use sources I believe are fair, but you should make your own decisions.

However, it would be unwise to depend on Bill Maher for all your news. You may remember him from “I’m hoping for a crash [in the economy so we can eliminate Trump]. Bring on the recession.” Wonder if the hundreds of thousands of deaths and the devastating crash of the economy caused by COVID-19 fulfill his dream. (Yet, even Maher has recently begun questioning some Left-Wing tactics.)

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As for COVID-19, nobody knew what to do or when. Listen to what the scientists were saying at any given time during this pandemic. None that I recall were spot-on or had a viable solution. And remember what the U.S. Surgeon General noted (early on) about wearing masks, something to the effect: If it makes you feel better, fine, but “I don’t recommend wearing masks.” He didn’t get much airtime after that statement.

HEADS UP: If you uttered the following (even while social distancing) in a particular suburb of Seattle: “I hate this ‘Chinese‘ Coronavirus.” You would be fomenting a Hate Crime and subject to prosecution. A senior law enforcement official made on-camera announcements stating that if you’re not sure whether there has been a violation, call us anyway, and we’ll see what we can do. I did not make this up.

That said, I am totally unnerved by reports of people harassing Asian-American citizens of our country. I can’t believe and am ashamed that even a small fraction of our citizens are that cruel and ignorant. It’s the Communist Chinese government that we should hold accountable, not the individual citizens, and indeed not people in the U.S. of Asian heritage. 

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Last-minute update: I thought that if you have an encounter or were arrested by police in the United States, especially if you were African-American, “Comply and Don’t Die” would be sufficient to keep you alive. With the incontestable brutality by a police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020, I’m not so sure anymore,

 I was so sickened by the video that I almost threw up. No doubt Black people and others, now more than ever, will fear any interaction with police. “It was just one bad cop” doesn’t cut it for the scores, who will now suspect all police. It may be possible to reduce this behavior through community policing, but I don’t believe it will eliminate it completely. 

Just because I wasn’t complicit in burning down a police precinct or ripping off a Target doesn’t mean I’m not outraged by the conduct of the officer with his knee on the neck of a restrained U. S. citizen. I’m now more inclined to understand the survey results highlighted in the second paragraph of this chapter. 

Not enough? There’s the assassination attempt on President Trump and the murder of Charlie Kirk.

As for the (so-called white supremacist) sub-human murderer of the people worshiping in their own church in Charleston, South Carolina. I wish I could be his jailer for just one day. (Hint: It has something to do with his food delivery and dispensing of any medication.)

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In case you missed it earlier, I’m glad I’m old, and hopefully, I won’t be around to see this country slip into the abyss. People from every generation, I believe, have predicted, in one way or another, that our country, maybe the world, is about to splinter into extinction. This time, however, I believe it to be true.  Are we at a breaking point? Aren’t you glad to be reading this uplifting chapter?

Another angry, even apoplectic, old white man who can’t accept change?  No, I don’t wish for the bad old days when we were less respectful of women, other races, the disabled, people’s sexual orientation, and the like. I wish for a citizenry that respects the constitution, differing opinions, and love of country.

I believe I’ve earned that right without becoming fodder for the feckless crowd who wish to decimate our way of life — the republican form of government, imperfect as she is —  that has served so many for so long and, dare I say, so well. 

Incidentally, I’m a registered Independent and have been for years. I’m also a decorated Vietnam Veteran. Not sure, being a baby killer* and all, (apocryphal) would endure me to our leftist friends. I also pay my taxes and recycle.

I read Woke cover-to-cover shortly after its release. Even though I consider the movement ludicrous and dangerous, I’m open-minded and decided to try to understand their point of view and educate myself about the crusade. 

Is there anyone to blame for this divisiveness? Are we all to blame, our citizens, you, and me?

I’m not naive. I know there are many people who have no time for civic involvement. They are just trying to balance family and career, and many are struggling. Some just aren’t interested in civic engagement or just don’t care. Perhaps saying to themselves, “How could just one person like me make a difference?”  

Try it. Turn off the TV and lose your iPhone® for a while. Get off your butt — get involved. Maybe something similar to the Tea Party (though reviled by many on the Left) that began as a grassroots movement and grew into a large and effective organization.

Recently, there was a piece on 60 Minutes about On Small Steps at a Time, A Story Corps, by Dave Isay, who brings people together across the political divide. People sit face-to-face and actually listen to one another without name-calling. From what little research I did, this sounds like a great initiative. 

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“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in their bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day, we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States when men were free.” Ronald Reagan. 

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Suppose we are not awakened from and stand up to the forces that are leading the U.S.A. astray. In that case, a tsunami of Radical Left-Wing iconoclast ideology will soon flood our country and wash away like-minded citizens struggling to stay afloat and reminiscing about better times and nostalgic — no desperate — for our country that used to be.

I sincerely believe the U.S. is Losing Its Way, and once this festering strain spreads unchallenged, it will never again be Exceptional — never the same.  And sadly, we will no longer be that “Shining City Upon a Hill whose Beacon of Light Guides Freedom-Loving People All Over the World.”

(President Ronald Reagan, 1989; John Winthrop and adapted from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  • Authors capitalization in Shining City).

I will end this discussion on a more upbeat tone:

Gerda Weissmann Klein, 95, of Phoenix, is fond of saying, “Every day is beautiful if you’re living in freedom.” The Holocaust survivor isn’t taking these words lightly. After she endured six years of Nazi brutality, she was liberated by  U. S. troops. The gift of survival inspired Klein to spend her life teaching, including imparting to her students:  “The blessings of U.S. citizenship.” (AARP Magazine)

Too many Americans are unaware of the actual history of our country. Unbelievably, just one in six Americans can pass a basic quiz on U.S. history, and one in seven believes the United States started WWII by bombing Japan! If you've read this far, I assume you are receptive to some of my ideas, and I ask that you share, no spread, America's story and remind young Americans — and each other — that what unites us is more significant than what separates us.

* I was a combat correspondent in an aggressive Cavalry Combat Infantry Division in Vietnam (1967 for an entire year), traveled extensively, and don’t recall one instance of US troops killing a baby. A screwed up mess, Yes. Baby Killing, No.