America is not in a good place | By Louie Overstreet

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BY LOUIE OVERSTREET

Our nation is in a bad place, due to the fact that we — as individuals, members of a tribe, and our institutions — are failing us, and our federal government always has one foot in and one foot out of a global crisis.

Sadly, we could (with reason or common sense) move away from the bad places we presently find ourselves living in.

If our present situation existed when we entered WWII, there is no way we could have defeated the Axis forces in three years and eight months. Today, we cannot organize a political weenie roast as evidenced by the RNC pulling the plug on future presidential debates.

Bad places include the following:

• Routine traffic stops resulting in the death of unarmed Black men.

• Failure to pass reasonable gun laws, resulting in insane levels of individual and mass murders.

• One tribe’s control of institutions that promote unfair and unjust actions to create advantages for themselves — most notably the rich and privileged in American society.

• Mega churches abandoning the teachings of the Bible to become mostly Republican political pawns.

• Acts of insurrection.

● Our foreign policy initiatives seem to always result in armed conflicts that now have the world on the brink of total annihilation.

Reason is the Slim in the parable about Slim and none, where Slim has left town, which leaves us with Common Sense. He recently died, as reported in the London Times, and was the last surviving member of his family. His parents Truth and Trust died years ago. His daughter Discretion and son Responsibility both suffered untimely deaths: Discretion died due to the unavailability of a safe abortion; Responsibility died from a gunshot wound, after a traffic stop.

Thus, unless Slim returns to town or Common Sense is resurrected, the only advice I can offer Americans nowadays is this: women and children first, and every man for himself.

Whether you choose to believe Ripley, the editor who answered Virginia’s letter to Santa Claus or me for that matter, one thing is certain: America is really in a bad place.