[AnotherUnixGeek]

The rot goes very deep

It does. Leftism controls the federal government bureaucracy, the major media institutions, BigTech and our public schools. We are fighting a war in which the other side has made consistent gains since the '70s. Winning this war is going to be the effort of decades, against opponents who do not give up.

[ActresponsiblyinVA]

For all the debt what have the Democrats to show?

[The Antiyuppie]

“It does. Leftism controls the federal government bureaucracy, the major media institutions, BigTech and our public schools. We are fighting a war in which the other side has made consistent gains since the ‘70s. Winning this war is going to be the effort of decades, against opponents who do not give up.”

This needs to be repeated. Electing a Republican President won’t “fix” everything magically - it sure didn’t last time! And I agree with your dating “the start of the decline” in the 1970’s.

What I fear is that “a lot of chickens will be coming home to roost” after 2024, and the Republicrats, probably in power by then, will be asked to solve them. The medicine to solve those issues may be nasty and won’t go down easily.