"Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss."
Posted on 12/31/2021 3:42:12 AM PST by Kaslin
"'Hope' is the thing with feathers / That perches in the soul," wrote Emily Dickinson. "And sore must be the storm / That could abash the little Bird / That kept so many warm."
Staring ahead on New Year's Eve, at what appear to be the coming storms of 2022, this once-hopeful country is going to have to fall back on its reserves.
What storms?
Suddenly, the omicron variant of the coronavirus is sweeping the nation, shutting schools, shops, restaurants and bars that were only lately reopened. In this last week of 2021, new infections twice set records.
Is a fifth wave of the pandemic arriving, just two years after the first wave hit in March 2020?
What is hopeful here?
While the numbers of infected are exploding and deaths are rising anew, the omicron variant appears to be less severe and less lethal than the delta variant -- and possibly less enduring.
From the medical community one hears the hope that the omicron variant could displace the delta and, as has happened in South Africa, burn itself out.
Still, if the present rate of infections and deaths continues, we could have a virus-related million American deaths by spring.
A second storm is economic, with inflation now running at 6.8%, the highest rate since the last days of Jimmy Carter and first days of Ronald Reagan.
Should this trend continue, inflation could be crushing to resident Joe Biden's party and presidency next November. And, according to Thursday's Washington Post, that may be what is coming:
"Strong consumer demand, continuing supply chain troubles and the emergence of the omicron variant of the coronavirus threaten to prolong sharply rising prices well into 2022, potentially making inflation the premier economic challenge of the new year."
As for U.S. economic growth, forecasts for the first quarter of 2022 are being cut back from 5.2% to 2.2%.
Nor does the world look any more tranquil from this vantage point.
In the second week of January, U.S. talks with Russia begin, probably in Geneva, on Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand for assurances that Ukraine not be admitted into NATO and no U.S. offensive weapons be stationed in a border nation from which they can be used to attack Russia with only minutes notice.
The hopeful news: Putin reportedly ordered 10,000 of the 100,000 Russian troops on Ukraine's border back to their bases deeper in Russia.
Still, it is hard to believe Putin is bluffing when he says that if Ukraine is invited to become a full member of NATO, Russia will see to it that the consummation never comes to pass.
As for China, there is no sign it is backing off from any of its territorial demands -- on its Himalayan border with India, with half a dozen rival nations in the South and East China seas, or with Taiwan.
Probably the best we can hope for in the simmering Taiwan crisis is that China will put off its insistence on annexation of the island of 24 million while it digests the lately free city of Hong Kong.
Negotiation with Iran on a mutual return to the 2015 nuclear deal appears to be nearing the fish-or-cut-bait moment. Should the talks collapse without Iran's return to the restrictions of the deal, we will, early in the new year, hear more animated talk of "other options" and "Plan B" -- synonyms for U.S. attacks on Tehran's nuclear facilities.
Hovering over all of the above is the gnawing and growing concern among the American people about the physical and mental capacities of their president.
A month ago, a Politico poll found that while 46% of Americans believe Biden is mentally fit for his office, 48% disagree. In the same poll, only about one-half of all Americans felt Biden was "in good health."
All that talk of a few months back of Biden being a statesman of superior competence, perhaps a second Franklin D. Roosevelt or Lyndon B. Johnson, has died out.
Yet the maladies and crises the country confronts from inflation, China, Russia, Iran, the explosion of shootings and murders in major cities, and our bleeding border are not Biden's alone; they are America's. They are ours. If Joe Biden fails, the country does not succeed.
Yet, since mid-August, an average of national polls has shown Biden to be slipping underwater and sinking deeper. His disapproval rating is now 10 points higher than his approval rating, which sits in the low 40s.
What does the future hold?
The latest news brought to 23 the number of House Democrats who are retiring or looking for another position rather than running for reelection in 2022. Yet, to regain the House majority, the GOP needs a net gain of just five seats in the 435-member chamber.
Most pundits believe the Democrats will lose the House and, if they do, the U.S. government will grind to gridlock for the next two years. Not exactly a formula for the restoration of a lost national unity or purpose.
"Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss."
Democrats, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi & Chuck Schumer should be impeached or forced to resign their public office positions....it is as simple as that!!! Wake Up, Wise Up, Americans!!!
As much of a lib as he was, I found Hal Holbrook to be a compelling actor to watch.
FJ Biden doesn’t deserve impeachment. First off he’s not president. For 2022 I wish the same thing as I did for 2021.
For 2022 the winner of the last presidential election need be recognized and placed in office this in spite of those who think they are in power in dc. Jail all complicit in the steal. I don’t care to wait until the midterm elections which still can be finagled by the Democrats under their own cover now not to mention the cover of the so called republicans which have sat by and let the theft of our country occur and continue.
FJ and crew are ruining our country.
Yeah, sure.......flopola Biden’s looking into the abyss and the morons gonna take us down with him.
EXCEPT
This incompetent fool and his Crime Family will go on to live another day in luxury on our tax dollars.....while we struggle to pay the bills.
Notice not one Biden has visited Joe in the WH .......for fear of exposure......being named on WH visitors lists.
But uncle Joe has made some 50 secret trips to Delaware....
That’s when all the dirty deals are made.....setting up the money laundries and offshore accounts.
Build Back Better, my Aunt Tilly.....more like the Biden Billionaire Enabling Bill.
His role as Col. Joseph Rochefort in “Midway” was memorable.
Captain Garth: How much can you decipher?
Commander Rochefort: Fifteen percent.
Captain Garth: Really decipher?
Commander Rochefort: Ten percent.
Captain Garth: Ten percent? That’s one word in ten, Joe! You’re *guessing*!
Commander Rochefort: [slightly hurt] We like to call it “analysis.”
His wife Dixie Carter was a Republican, so Hal probably wasn’t too much of a lefty humorless scold.
Who in power is the closest to Gordon Gekko?
H/t Samuel Anthony
CONMAN BIDENS MO Orwellian doublespeak, campaigned on promises to “unite” and “heal” the country, but instead keeps us divided uby pushing narratives that America is inherently racist, sexist, and any other “–ist” word he can find or make up.
Biden is the face of politicians who forget they are civil servants...... not our rulers.
It is imperative for Bidenesque politicians to keep us divided and at odds with each other because a united populace is antithetical to their greedy goals.
Pols want for nothing, we pay all the bills.
They view the citizenry not as constituents to serve, but as a means to an end. We are here to cast our votes for them to ensure they stay in power.
They say one thing and then do whatever is best for themselves, not what is best for us.
Musk.
John Bull originated as a satirical character created by John Arbuthnot, a friend of Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. Bull first appeared in 1712 in Arbuthnot's pamphlet Law is a Bottomless Pit.<<<
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
“if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
Which is also my frustration with Oliver Stone, he hits some good points, but most of the time he just comes off as a contrarian, for the sake of being a contrarian.
Yep. He was an Obama supporter but identified as an independent. Like so many of the Hollywood male types, they’ll ID as left-of-center to make sure the gravy train stays on the tracks. But there was someone - Gary Sinese or Tom Selleck, maybe? Jon Voight? - who said in an interview several years ago that there are more conservatives in Hollywood than are generally acknowledged, they just keep their mouths shut or pay lip service for their studio overlords’ consumption, and try to mingle at private get-togethers at another Underground Conservative’s house.
Yeah, that call for “unity” was disingenuous from the get go.
>>As for U.S. economic growth, forecasts for the first quarter of 2022 are being cut back from 5.2% to 2.2%.<<
Gee, almost like the miserable days when Obama was in office.
>>Wake Up, Wise Up, Americans!!!<<
Well, I’d say at least half + Americans know exactly what’s going on and what happened that led us to this.
At least 40 million illegals in this country could care less. They are here, they enjoy a better life than where they came even if it is meager.
The other millions of low-income folks have been conned into bowing to the gubbamint tit. Can you imagine they voting against leftist that is literally the hand that is feeding them?
It’s easier to receive a check in the mail than to work or go to a training program to learn a trade. Not trying to be overly critical, but for many it is human nature. It is just good enough.
It is primarily the fault of our so-called leaders past and present. Republican and democrat congressman, senators, presidents.
Monumental social and fiscal mismanagement for decades.
This was one of Pat’s weakest articles. He barely trotted out his famous isolationism.
Biden IS the abyss.
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