The mission of The St. Croix Review is to end the destruction of America by reestablishing the family as the center of American life, restoring economic prosperity to an independent middle class, and reviving a culture of tradition.

A Cornucopia of American Scandal

Barry MacDonald — Editorial

It has been the practice of this editorial to address one or two topics impacting America during the current two-month period. There is so much to write about today that the task seems overwhelming. The fabric of America is unraveling. The flash mobs that storm into high-end retail stores, like Nordstrom’s in California, to despoil and loot without negative consequence to themselves, are definitive symbols of social disintegration. The homeless encampments and street violence that plague the metro areas of California, Oregon, Washington, and elsewhere, are the destructive result of the negligence and dereliction of duty on the part of incompetent, progressive governance.

We are not living in merely “interesting” but rather “confounding” times. We faithful, good-hearted Americans, during these perplexing months, must seek and rely on the guidance and strength that only comes from a divine source. Let us gain as much strength from each other as we may.

• The wildfire on Hawaii’s Maui island has killed at least 106 people, and the death toll is certain to rise, as 1,000 people have not yet been found. The horrific and sudden blast of heat was such that some people were reportedly “melted,” and may never be found. Other people were forced into the ocean to avoid the flames and smoke, and many may have drowned — their bodies may never be recovered. During this ordeal, as he was entering his armored, suburban vehicle while he was on vacation again at his beachfront property, (for 40 percent of his presidency, he has been on vacation), President Biden received a shouted question from the press. It seems that the president is only partially available for shouted questions these days. He responded to a query about the Hawaiian disaster: “No Comment.” Later, the president was filmed lounging on the beach — disconnected and unconcerned about those Americans tragically afflicted. The president’s lethargy is a fitting image of current American leadership: There is no captain steering the ship of state. As more facts emerge, human factors appear to have contributed significantly to the magnitude of the disaster. There was neglect and mismanagement in the prevention of water being released in a timely manner to suppress the fire. Also, there is a broad cultural impact because politics is in play. White House spokesperson John Podesta has linked the fire to the climate change narrative. It is so easy for the Left to blame the inevitable occurrence of natural catastrophe on a prosperous economy. The Maui cataclysm was the result of a fire amid drought conditions and human error. The fire from a downed powerline was not successfully extinguished, and flames were spread by hurricane winds — the epitome of a perfect storm. Life on Earth is subject to periodic natural disasters. People are prone to fits of terror — the Left takes advantage of human frailty to weave narratives essential to their agenda.

• A young lady of my acquaintance hates former President Trump, and she rejoiced that Trump and 18 others were charged by Atlanta District Attorney Willis. My friend was not aware of the more than 100 nightly riots in Portland during the summer of 2020. Throughout the summer of 2020, the federal courthouse in Portland was assaulted by masked Antifa thugs using slingshots and lasers against local and federal police. The level of violence in Portland, Chicago, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Atlanta, Seattle, Minneapolis, Kenosha, and elsewhere during the summer of 2020 outstripped that of the January 6 riot at the Capitol. My friend is not aware of the lopsided context. In reference to the death of George Floyd, I asked whether she knows how many killings there are each year of unarmed black men by police. Of course, she was unaware of the average number, because the media is not reporting facts that complicate their narratives. The answer is between 14 to 20. According to Justice Department numbers, there are about 60 million interactions between police and citizens each year. There are about 10 million people arrested annually by police, writes Heather MacDonald, who is a wonderful source of statistical information related to policing. She wrote the book, The War on the Cops. Whites are more likely than blacks or Hispanics to experience police contact. Whites are more likely to be killed by police than are blacks, making due allowance for the relative proportions of the racial groups. My friend, who is a lovely person whom I like very much, is an example of the result of narrative news: She is poisoned with animus against people in a way that leverages the agenda of the Left. Seen in the context of nationwide facts, the George Floyd incident was an exceedingly rare event. The Marxist, propagandistic nature of the American news media continues to be a preeminent and malignant influence on American society.

• While President Biden is busy touting “Bidenomics,” the Fitch rating service downgraded the U.S. debt standing. The commentator Bill Bonner says of the Biden administration’s policy: “The signature element of Bidenomics, as near as we are able to determine, is simply Chiquita Finance. You enjoy the warm weather as long as possible — spend, spend, spend . . . borrow, borrow, borrow. And then, on a cold day, you pour gasoline over your head and set yourself on fire.” If a private company assumed too much debt, banks would stop lending them money. Businesses and households do go broke. But the federal government inflates the money supply with a printing press. The Bank of America strategist Michael Hartnett used Congressional Budget Office projections to conclude that U.S. debt will rise by $5.2 billion every day for the next decade. Establishment politicians of both parties have been profligate spenders for decades. Our borders have been opened to illegal aliens who will be a continual drain on our social services. The deceitfully named “Inflation Reduction Act” was a boondoggle of green energy policies that will cost too much and, in the case of electric vehicles, will burden our electrical power grids. We can look forward to higher energy bills and brownouts at the same time. There is no practical sense in the priorities and expenditures of the federal government, and it’s hard to see any corrective measure that doesn’t involve severe recession or depression at some point in the future. Even private banks — like the Silicon Valley Bank (which collapsed) — have replaced sound financial acumen with environmental, social, governance (ESG) schemes. American society is not immune to the ravages of inflation and profligacy.

• The lawfare against former President Trump, continues. He is facing 91 criminal charges in four jurisdictions. Trump hatred is a Roman orgy of colossal dimensions. Establishment politicians; the leadership of the CIA, FBI, and other intelligence agencies; the bureaucracies; the universities; the media; and many millions of media-addled Americans are ecstatic. Not since the resignation of President Richard Nixon has there been such glee at the peril of an American president. The powers that be in America fear him because he is a provocative populous leader who has exposed their incompetency, and their disdain for, in the words of Barack Obama, the “bitter clingers,” and of Hillary Clinton, the “deplorables.” If the prosecutors have their way, Trump will be in court instead of on the campaign trial in 2024. Each trial, and the commentary on each trial, will make for appointment TV, more sensational than the O. J. Simson trial. These blockbuster events will serve to subsume any wayward curiosity of the American public for the odiferous evidence of Biden family corruption. Various Republican House committees are successfully exposing bank records of money transfers through shell companies into the accounts of the Biden family. IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, as well as several FBI whistleblowers, have become paragons of integrity and courageous heroes, while the media turns a blind eye. Yet, the stench of Biden corruption may become too much to ignore.     *