Sadly, in 2023 and for some time, governmental incompetence has been and is being richly rewarded. I am a Vietnam veteran and proudly support our men and women in uniform. That support does not necessarily and automatically extend to the upper echelon of officials in the military and government. The rank-in-file service personnel follows the orders given and do the job needed to protect and defend American and Americans. I applaud their efforts.
Something that crossed my desk recently was the reality that we spent $9 trillion in the Afghanistan war in our effort to fight terrorism. That alone is disturbing, but that is not what pressed my hot button. Admittedly our efforts failed in training and equipping the Afghan forces to defend their nation. There are dozens of possible reasons for that failure, including that we did not fail to train them. Maybe they were aligned with the Taliban or had no stomach for a fight. But that is still not my ultimate hot-button issue.
In an article by Olivia Murray on March 9, 2023, in the americanthinker.com, a problem was exposed that exemplifies my title that we are rewarding incompetence at an alarming level. It is not just in the military, but that is one of the areas in which we spend a significant amount of the federal budget.
Representatives James Comer and Pete Sessions apparently drafted a letter to Lloyd Austin of the Department of Defense asking for clarity. It will never be forthcoming, but the issue they raised was that in November 2022, the DOD failed its 5th consecutive audit. What? Five times in a row, and it is still going on! Maybe the Committee, the Secretary of Defense, and all involved should be fired immediately. No, not perhaps; they should.
The DOD is unable to account for 61%. Yes, I said, sixty-one percent of its $3.5 trillion assets. That is beyond incompetence. It is disastrous and must be addressed immediately. It should have been addressed after the first failed audit, but after five in a row, it is unthinkable that it is still transpiring.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported that the DOD continues to fail to accurately account for hundreds of billions of dollars of government-furnished property placed in the hands of contractors. Who are the contractors? That is another matter that needs to be carefully investigated, but I digress. I suspect this is not mere incompetence but blatant fraud and cannot be allowed unpunished.
Another federal agency is equally guilty of incompetence and mismanagement, the Department of Education. We are far from the best educational system in the world, ranking 38th in math scores, 24th in science scores, and not so hot in other areas. Is that acceptable? It should not be. How can we continue to funnel billions, if not trillions, of taxpayer funds into an agency that is not only incompetent but aggressively WOKE and teaching anti-Americanism?
College education has become prohibitively expensive for many. According to statistics, about 50% of college graduates find their degrees insufficient to enable them to find gainful employment in their field. Not only in their field but often in any field that requires a college degree.
We dare not omit the medical community, especially the government-funded and government-run agencies. The incredible incompetence or diabolical efforts and agenda of people like Dr. Anthony Fauci are alarming. The claims that have been debunked repeatedly exposed the incompetence and potential fraud, graft, and corruption in those agencies and individuals.
The FDA and the CDC contributed majorly to the incompetence and fraud. The protection of the vaccine manufacturers was a reward that should never have transpired. Joe Biden recently claimed that the gun manufacturers were the only ones who could not be sued. He seems to have forgotten the vaccine manufacturers and others. If there is no concern about having to give a legal and reasoned defense for malpractice or incompetence, you remove caution and are allowed to ignore red flags. Hey, if you can’t sue me, I can do anything with impunity. That is not a reward that should have transpired.
We could touch on virtually every sector of society in which the federal government has its fingers and cite astounding incompetence and unjustifiable rewards for that incompetence. We are up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Unless we return to moral sanity and renew our commitment to and emphasis upon personal morality, ethics, and achievement, we will watch our republic become a faint memory.
We need to end many of the unnecessary regulations and mandates that stifle the ability of small businesses and individuals to compete with the mega-corporations in bed with the government. We need to restore the ethos embodied in the Declaration of Independence regarding inalienable rights and our right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. We need to find a pathway to limited government. Wait, we have one: the Constitution and the Bible.
The recent bank failures and the federal government’s rush to bail them out are other examples of rewarding incompetence and sometimes illegal behavior. No, I do not want people to lose everything, but those committing the actions that result in the potential loss should be held accountable, not rewarded for incompetence.
Our moral bankruptcy has opened the door for many, if not all, the failures in our American government. When the government becomes an activist environmentally and socially and seeks to impose totalitarian-style governance, we are in danger. I believe that our condition is a result of allowing God to be banished from all things public and especially the federal government. No, I am not suggesting a theocracy to replace our Republican system. Still, I am suggesting that the moral fiber espoused in the Bible enabled America to become the Great Nation it has become and could still be.
Our southern border is so porous that it virtually does not exist. The head of the Border Patrol has exposed the lies and distortions of Homeland Security and this administration. Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz declared that we do not have operational control of the border. But Biden and Mayorkas insist the border is secure. Secure? I guess your definition of secure determines your view of that declaration.
Fentanyl, sex trafficking, human trafficking, terrorists, the diseased, and those seeking to subvert our system of government have unimpeded access to our nation. Passing more laws will not fix the problem of incompetence; replacing the incompetent will. America, it is time for us to evict those in government (elected and unelected) who are unqualified. The only reward for incompetence should be a pink slip. Maybe they are charged with filling a role they are incapable of filling, then move them out or demote them to their level of competence.
God help us to realize our situation and take the appropriate actions.
God bless you, and God bless America!
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