A corrupt people will not long remain free. Period. That is something the Founders knew in their bones.

Yet I fear we have forgotten that lesson.

A corrupt people will not long remain free. That is a simple truth.

Here are a couple Merriam-Webster definitions of corrupt:

1) a: morally degenerate and perverted: depraved b: characterized by improper conduct (such as bribery or the selling of favors)

3) adulterated or debased by change from an original or correct condition

Few honest folks would fail to admit that our society’s morals have declined in recent years, or that the amount of “improper conduct” has increased. Without question, our behavior has been adulterated and debased by change. Look at the content of television shows circa say, the 1970s or 1980s versus today. When one went out to dinner, or even a nightclub or tavern 50 years ago it was extremely rare to hear those next to you using using “F-bombs.” Today, nearly everyone uses them on a constant — and loud — basis, young girls included. In some places the word appears as ubiquitous as “the,” “and,” or “you.” Look at pictures of people attending sporting events in the '40s, '50s, or '60s and compare them to today. Coats, ties, dresses, and hats were the norm back then, whereas anything goes today. Tats, piercings, and sweatpants predominate in many cases. And that is just scratching the surface. We all are aware of the increase in crime, drug use, and attendant homelessness.

And now we have a corrupt government, one that does not value the personal liberty of its citizens; that, in fact, disdains it and sees it as a threat. Those in the current government and its various institutions fervently wish to tame us -- and eventually effectively enslave us. They make it abundantly clear, in every way possible, that they much prefer the illegal immigrants pouring across our border in an incessant, unbroken torrent. Easier to bribe, mold, and coerce you see. And secure their votes. Those in that government do everything possible to suppress, cancel, or imprison their political opponents — and their supporters -- all the while proclaiming they are doing so to “preserve our democracy.”

The ”fundamental change” that the Obama Era ushered in has, of course, led to fundamental change in what many of us value -- and how we see the country … and what it represents. Nearly everyone notices that there is a very different feel from, say, 1985. I would posit that, in many ways, that change has adulterated and debased us. Confidence, buoyancy and optimism have largely been displaced by ennui, doubt, angst, and a jaundiced pessimism.

We have been here before, however, and lived to tell of it. So there is still some hope. In 1979, President Carter talked of the “erosion of confidence” afflicting the nation. Around the same time, Ronald Reagan stated: “Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”

If President Biden loses his job on or about Nov. 5, 2024, perhaps America will recover once again.

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