Do You See What I See?

Do you see a goblet....or two faces looking at each other?

My wife and I have been watching a show on Apple TV called, "Ted Lasso." It's an Emmy-award winning show about a kind, well-intentioned American college football coach recruited to coach a British football (soccer) team when he knows nothing about soccer. Although rated TV-MA for harsh language, it's a great show. At the end of a recent episode, a song entitled, "I Remember" by Molly Drake, played over the closing credits; and it brought tears to our eyes. The song is sung from the perspective of a woman who remembers all the lovely things of a day spent with her lover, while he remembers everything about the day that was annoying and bad. You can listen to it here. Grab a box of tissues first, though.

We tramped the open moorland in the rainy April weather

And came upon the little inn that we had found together

The landlord gave us toast and tea and stopped to share a joke

And I remember firelight

I remember firelight

I remember firelight

And you remember smoke

The song illustrates how two people can have the exact same experience, but regard it in totally opposite ways.

I believe it serves as a metaphor for what is happening in our country today.

But instead of two lovers, let's call them the progressive left and the conservative right. Each regards America in totally opposite ways.

The conservative right sees the complete ruination of our society in progress. But, based on their statements and actions, the progressive left absolutely does NOT see it that way. They see it as a means to "Build Back Better."

I've received many questions from followers of this blog asking, "How can this administration not see what's happening?" or, "How can our leaders believe that what they're doing is a good thing?"

I, myself, have been struggling to figure out why, in nine months, the Biden administration has spawned so many complete and utter disasters:

• Chaos on the border

• Afghanistan withdrawal debacle

• Broken supply chain and empty store shelves

• Soaring inflation

• Runaway energy prices

• Looting and shoplifting with no consequences

• Drug cartels freely trafficking humans and killer drugs into our country

• Going from total energy independence to begging OPEC for more oil.

How did all this happen so quickly? Is it incompetence? Is it apathy? Is it deliberate?

This is where one's perspective comes into play.

The left typically views America as the PROBLEM in the world; while the right typically views America as the SOLUTION to problems in the world. As such, the above occurrences are only "disasters" from the perspective of the conservative right. The left views them as POSITIVE signs that they are making progress towards a "better" America...even if it appears a bit messy,

How could they possibly believe it is BETTER??

Let's take a closer look...

To conservatives, the border is crucial to maintaining America's strength, security and sovereignty. But to the left, the border is merely a speedbump that needs to be smoothed out. They believe that imperialist America has plundered and pillaged the poor nations of the world and it's now time for America to open its borders in the name of compassion. Everyone who wants to come here should be admitted, no questions asked. And these immigrants DESERVE free health benefits and welfare support. After all, we owe that to the world, right? It's a celebration of humanity! Oh...and if the expected arrival of two million immigrants this year happens to turn red states blue and change the electoral map, well, too bad. Elections are just for show, anyway.

The left sees an America that is too powerful and needs to be taken down a notch. Hence, the withdrawal from Afghanistan WAS an "extraordinary success." Never mind the costs. A $1.5 billion dollar embassy turned over to the Taliban, an $800 billion scrapyard that was once the Bagram airbase, and $83 billion in sacrificed military equipment is just chump change in the big picture of the new world order. As for those Americans that are still there...oh well. Too bad for them. Collateral damage.

Remember Abraham Lincoln's quote, "A house divided against itself cannot stand?" Since the left sees American pride and patriotism as an obstacle to dividing the house...then creating turbulence, disruption and separation everywhere is EXACTLY what's needed to bring about a new dawn in America. And what better way than by teaching our children and youth that being born white is a sin and "white supremacy" is the single biggest threat to the country? And, of course, instituting policies that promote resentment, envy, grievance and victimhood only hastens the process.

The left sees socialism as preferable to capitalism. Therefore, it's essential that there is more and more dependence on government handouts. They also have to do everything in their power to stifle the spirit of individualism, creativity, freedom and sovereignty.

The left sees the world on the brink of collapse due to man-made climate change, so eliminating millions of cars and fossil fuels is a must. If gas prices can be pushed to $100/gallon and people are forced into public transit (or no transit at all), then that just might keep sea levels from rising.

The left sees beautiful American cities as evil bastions of inequity. So, it makes sense to build $16 million dollar tent cities for the homeless; and it's perfectly reasonable (and helpful) to print "poop maps" telling tourists where NOT to walk to avoid the homeless defecating in the streets.

The left sees certain ethnic groups disproportionately represented in crime statistics, It, therefore, makes perfect sense to pass laws and regulations allowing people to steal and shoplift without consequence. The police should be defunded, unarmed social workers should respond to 911 calls, and police should stand down when BLM and Antifa burn America's cities to the ground. Buildings and businesses are just "bricks and mortar" after all. America CAUSED the problem because it shouldn't have created the conditions that triggered the riots in the first place. And if you're a business owner whose livelihood was burned and looted, that's your problem. That's why there's insurance.

Lastly, the left sees America as flawed from its very founding because of the stain of slavery. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are deemed to be invalid and MUST be torn up and re-written.

Is this the "hope and change" that community organizer (now multi-millionaire) Barack Obama was touting?

Yes.

The progressive left sees all this chaos as the road to a socialist utopia. Nirvana.

The conservative right sees it all as the slippery descent into the 9th circle of Hell.

So, when you ask, "WHY are they doing this?-- just recognize that it stems from how the progressive left sees America. And then it all makes sense.

The next time you hear Joe Biden, Jen Psaki, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi or any of the others on the left espousing their "successes," just remember that they are simply trying to educate us more simple-minded folks that this really IS the new land of milk and honey. All we need to do is get out of their way. They will transform and remake America in their own image and we can thank them for it later.

It's just a matter of perspective.

As the second verse to the "I Remember" song goes:

We ran about the meadow grass with all the harebells bending

And shaking in the summer wind a summer never-ending

We wandered to the little stream among the river flats

And I remember willow trees

I remember willow trees

I remember willow trees

And you remember gnats

I choose to see the willow trees.

How about you?

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