Yes, it could be worse. We could have Jacinda Ardern running the country.
Aside from being a budding tyrant, New Zealand's Prime Minister Ardern is not very bright. A more dangerous combination in a national "leader" is hard to find. Most Americans in 2022 are aware of this frightening fact.
Ardern is so terrified of opposing viewpoints that, in a UN speech, she condemned online free speech as "weapons of war." Geez. Have an herbal tea, Jackie, and maybe look up a class on critical thinking skills.
Below is a snippet from her impassioned queries:
“After all, how do you successfully end a war if people are led to believe the reason for its existence is not only legal but noble? How do you tackle climate change if people do not believe it exists? How do you ensure the human rights of others are upheld, when they are subjected to hateful and dangerous rhetoric and ideology?”
Well, I've got a couple of ideas, oh Great One, if you'll allow a humble challenge to your concrete mindset. How about you do your research and present some facts? Can you prove a war is not noble? How? Do you have enough provable data to convince people that climate change is real? Can you explain your positions in a coherent, logical, calm and convincing way? Are you able to just go ahead and uphold "the human rights of others" (that would include forgoing coercion, by the way) and, by your actions, ensure those rights are enforced without worrying about the current batch of tweets?
I realize that these are a lot of questions for an emotionally overwrought prime minister. But I'm an American of a certain age who grew up in a free country with free speech as our most cherished and protected right. That country, very sadly, has largely vanished. But I don't give up hope that there are enough Americans still standing and ready to turn the current Titanic-like condition of our government around. That starts with speaking out without fear of censorship (or fear that the FBI will show up Saturday morning at dawn, drag you out in a pajamas-and-handcuffs ensemble, and confiscate your cell phone. Fingers crossed.).
Speaking out would be harder to do with an authoritarian hysteric at the nation's helm. We're coming very close to that, but not as close as New Zealand. So, as bad as things are in the U.S. right now, it could be worse. What Americans need to remember, especially as Election Day approaches, is the famous line from Steel Magnolias: "It can always get worse."
