Our Darkest Hour

This has been an upsetting 3 1/2 years, politically and economically. Passions on both sides of the political spectrum have been inflamed, and the focus of the storm raging about us is the current President of the United States, Barak Hussein Obama. In my 60 years of life in these United States, I can't think of a time when we have been more divided, more polarized, more fearful, or more unsettled as a nation.
There are many theories as to why this is so. Lack of faith in God, a lessening of brotherly love, deception and lawlessness in high places, laziness on the part of the people, an influx of uninvited people across our borders, are all given as reasons for the general malaise that has afflicted us collectively. Our President has been charged by some as the source of all these problems, the main motivator of the evils we see, but feel helpless to minimize. Others have hailed his actions as masterful strokes. He has been accused by the conservative members of society of being crazy, psychotic, manipulating, a Communist, a Socialist, and many other names unsavory, and for the most part, inaccurate. The liberal side of the spectrum has hailed him as a savior, a great statesman, a genius, a person who is the last, best hope for our country.
I would put out the hypothesis that he is none of these things. I think both sides have missed seeing Obama for what he is, because his motivations and central thinking are so far removed from an American point of view that we have all mistaken what he is for what we individually think he is, or what we want him to be.
The American POV is one of exceptionalism, of faith that our country, our way of life, our political system, our very being, is a force for good in the world. Americans truly believe that we are the "city set upon the hill", the grand experiment in freedom and faith that will free the world from the chains of the past. We do not look upon ourselves as aggressors, but defenders. We do not try to conquer, but to comfort. We are the most generous people on the face of the earth, by any reasonable measure. This POV has been developed and strengthened by over 200 years of history. We are not perfect; we have made some very serious mistakes. But we have tried to learn from those mistakes, tried to make amends when possible, and turn former enemies into friends. That, I believe, is part of who we are; a people who want to help, want to uplift and strengthen our neighbors, and want to protect the helpless and downtrodden. This worldview of ours is strong, and, for the most part, correct. We have done what we could, and what we can do is expanded by our unfailing optimism in ourselves and our God, however we picture deity.
But there are many in the world who do not hold our worldview, who resent our "colonial" aspirations, who have no part of our view of ourselves as good and exceptional. Most of the developing world was subjected to European colonialism at one point or another, which colored their views and expectations of Europeans, and by extension, Americans. There are many in Africa and Asia who resent and despise the Western model of conquest and domination, and include America in their resentment, even though we, as a country, are a result of European colonialism.
It is not my purpose, nor my intent, to judge the feelings of those people who resent us, even if I feel their resentment is misplaced. My job is to live my life according to the principles I hold: that we are all brothers and sisters, children of a Heavenly Father who loves us equally and impartially.
Barak Obama grew up in a fractured household, abandoned by his father, his mother, and his stepfather. He spent most of his formative years in Indonesia and in Hawaii, living with people who were not believers in the American model of republican democratic principles. He grew up hearing how colonialism destroyed his people, how Western governments were evil and dominating, and how there were only a few fit to govern, the elite of the underdogs. He absorbed aspects of communism, socialism, fascism, and a collective mindset, but he does not completely fit into any of these categories. He has been termed an "enigma" by those who have tried to tease apart his actions and words. But there is a paradigm that fits better than the rest, a worldview that explains much more why he has done the things he has.
Dinesh D'Souza wrote a book, which has been made into a movie, called "2016: Obama's America". In an interview on 7-12-2012 with Glenn Beck, Mr. D'Souza talked about what he found while researching and filming Obama's past. He found that Obama's heritage and upbringing were anti-colonial, and that he blames the developing world's problems on their colonial past and present. Obama wants to bring the 3rd world up by bringing America and Western civilization down. It's not just socialism, but the annihilation of republicanism, not just advancing the less advantaged, but pulling down and contracting the advantaged. His moves to prevent energy independence, to leave our borders open, to give a free pass to illegal immigrants, to make fawning overtures to despots and tyrants, are all designed to make America weak, small, and unable to be a superpower. He doesn't want any superpowers, preferring the idea of "equal" peers, all nations having the same power. He will leave us without the means to defend ourselves, to feed ourselves, to power our civilization, so that we will become like "everybody else".
His mindset is so different from the run-of-the-mill American's that both sides of the aisle have been floundering to define Obama, to put him in a box. But none of the boxes so far have fit well; there are parts of communism, socialism, etc., but he doesn't fit any of the boxes Americans are used to dealing with. Our colonial past was over and done with in 1787, with the Constitution. We forged a new nation, beholden to no one, exploited by no one, able to make her own way on the global stage. No other country has managed to do what America has. And that is why, in Obama's mind, no country needs more to be brought down, humbled and squeezed smaller than America.
This is truly our darkest hour. We are gambling on our very lives, our standard of living, our exceptionalism, our fortunes and our sacred honor, with the dice being cast in about 4 months.