A reader comments on future American weakness:
Yes, the damage to intelligent, skillful government functioning in this country is irreparably damaged, and will remain that way for 30 to 50 years, even if the current president does not make it to full term. Worse, by then the world will have essentially passed us by. America in 30 years will no longer be the world leader, nor have the diplomatic, military and economic clout it has today; it’ll be a has-been barring some catastrophic event which allows us to regain that position (.e.g. such as was WW2, and that’s a less desirable outcome).
While that is certainly a possibility, I do not consider it a certainty. Reports from the field indicate an awakening on the part of the Democrats and the irreligious to the current problems of and in government, resulting in a flood of candidates at all levels of government for seats. Given the erratic and poor performance of this GOP-dominated U. S. government, apparent to anyone not living within the echo chamber of the extremist right wing, the ideology of the right should be discredited to some extent, although there’s the possibility of the baby landing in the snowbank next to its bathwater.
And if there’s one thing this country can do, it can move fast when it wants to. I worry about future weakness in this country, but I also think that if a resurgence of rational people in important government positions occurs, we can clamber back to the top. We have educational centers, physical resources, human resources (just think of the Obama Administration personnel who could be ready to step up and bring their expertise to bear), and a number of other advantages which we can take advantage of – if we stop plopping second- and third- raters into government.
That’s the key.
