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Op-Ed

Ehrlich: This 1 Example Will Bring Home Why So Many People Are Upset and Confused These Days

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Americans are mightily unhappy (and a bit confused) these days, and I’m not just referring to the average conservative, Western Journal-reading, Tucker Carlson-watching ones, either.

No, I’m thinking of those families who are presently preoccupied with affording groceries and filling the tank and making the monthly mortgage payment and getting kids to practice rather than what went down that day on Capitol Hill.

But, alas, things have rapidly spiraled out of control for the average person.

There are many reasons for all the angst — and hurt. Among them:

  • The federal government has spiked the cost of gasoline and home heating oil in the cause of a “great energy transformation.”
  • Prosecutors in our largest cities regularly allow career criminals back on the streets due to cashless bail “reforms.”
  • Teachers around the country are caught bragging about influencing the most personal bodily decisions of even very young children while keeping parents at arm’s length.
  • 401(k) and 529 accounts that have long been the foundation of retirement and tuition obligations have lost significant value seemingly overnight.
  • Daily video captures thousands of illegal migrants confidently and in carefree fashion walking over our southern border while officials in Washington, D.C., pronounce the border “secure.”
  • Fentanyl continues to pour over that same border, which has in turn generated a surge in overdose deaths among young Americans.
  • The First Amendment has never been more at risk as technology is increasingly utilized to suppress free and unpopular speech.
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I could go on, but you get the point. The time for rose-colored glasses has long passed. The consequences of truly awful ideas such as “defund the police” and energy dependence and “woke” instruction and “let’s spend like drunken sailors” are now open and notorious. In other words, the bills for such failed experimentation have come due.

Indeed, these and so many other indictments are now uncomfortably familiar as they inform the daily news cycle. But let me add one more particular absurdity from my life.

I like the cop show “Blue Bloods.” It has long been a ratings success with an all-star cast led by Tom Selleck. The acting is strong and the storylines typically delve into important — and familiar — life lessons.

Prior to every episode, a disclaimer appears on the screen along the lines of “This content may be inappropriate for children.” All of which sounds good and fine until one juxtaposes it with nightly news reports of aggressively permissive teachers and school boards attempting to silence or otherwise kneecap protesting parents in order to bring clearly inappropriate sexual content to public elementary classrooms.

If you’re looking for just one example of why so many people are upset with the state of things these days… this vignette will hopefully bring it all home for you.

America is still a democracy, so millions of average people will have their say on all of this on Nov. 8.

I doubt it will be a good day for fans of woke instruction and confusion and malignant transformation.

The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.

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Robert Ehrlich is a former governor of Maryland as well as a former U.S. congressman and state legislator. He is the author of “Bet You Didn’t See That One Coming: Obama, Trump, and the End of Washington’s Regular Order,” in addition to “Turn This Car Around,” “America: Hope for Change" and “Turning Point.” Ehrlich is currently a counsel at the firm of King & Spalding in Washington, D.C.




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