Jack Engelhard 17 January 2021

Hello, Dear World. We can use a prayer or two.

I know. It’s usually the other way round. You turn to us for help, and usually we deliver.

But something happened and we – this great big fat superpower – find ourselves on our knees, and we can’t get up.

Long story. The short of it is that we are being devoured by politics. The trouble started when the Democrats decided that every day is another day to hang Donald Trump.

They call it impeachment, but we know that for them, even that won’t be enough. They are forming a posse to pursue him even after he is out the door.

The hunt is on and anyone who voted for him is prey. That makes us a dysfunctional family, and the ruckus keeps getting worse.

The noise you hear is coming mostly from the Democrats (though for all the good he did over four years, and plenty of it was very good, Trump does not get off the hook for that one bad day, Jan. 6). But for you, Dear World, it is sufficient to know that we’ve got troubles, and when we’ve got troubles, you’ve got troubles.

Who you gonna call when we’re gone? Who comes running when you cry for help? We don’t keep grudges, either. Ask Japan. Ask Germany. Ask Vietnam.

Say the word, and we show up.

According to the Council of Foreign Relations, “The United States is widely viewed as the leader in international disaster relief, providing aid in response to dozens of disasters in more than 50 countries every year.” It’s what you would expect from a country whose heritage is based on Judeo-Christian values.

So it is no surprise that the nations count on Israel as well for the same type of humanitarian generosity.

America needs no ships, tanks nor planes from anyone, nor soldiers willing to fight, nor doctors willing to heal. We are okay in that department.

But spare us your schadenfreude. We hear the whispers. We are aware of the snickers. Instead, a pat on the back during these hard times would be appreciated.

That would be for services rendered past, present…though the future, who knows? That’s the point. We don’t know what’s coming now that everything is upside-down.

This we know. Iran is a player again, and China celebrates our miseries, as do, we are told, some others around the world, who say we had it coming.

They resent our Big Stick, and yet without that Big Stick Western Europe would be speaking German, and Eastern Europe would be speaking Russian.

Once we were near invincible, and now we are down in the dumps, but it would be a bad bet to count us out.

We shall return. Stick with us and stay tuned.