s have had those moments when a good idea goes somewhat astray. When I was just a lad, Mom baked a coconut pie. When told I should have half a piece to see if I really liked it, my reply was, “No! I want a whole piece!” I did not like the pie, but Mom insisted I eat it all. To this day, I cannot stand coconut in anything, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
The “law” of unintended consequences strikes in unexpected ways. A couple of years ago, the retired teachers of our county had our quarterly meeting. I invited a local law enforcement officer to speak to us about security. The focus was to be older people (not really old, but those of us with some years on us), people who may live in the country or in wooded areas in suburbs. Tom, the officer’s name, gave a good presentation and answered our several questions about staying safe when in sparsely inhabited places.
One of his suggestions was that the first line of defense was to have a dog, preferably large, who would also have a loud bark. I don’t really know how many of the attendees took him up on this, but my wife and I, since we live in place surrounded by quite a few trees and shrubs, decided this was a good idea. After all, we had been vandalized three times in the ten years we lived here.
We had an older dog, a Goldendoodle, about eleven years old, and since that is pretty old for canines, decided to get another one to augment the noise level when someone unknown was about. We found a breeder in Western Kentucky, made the deal and went and got her when she was eight weeks old, and brought the little bundle of fur back home.
She grew up, and her bark’s decibels grew up also. Now when she hears any kind of odd noise, such as a car driving by or the train rumbling on the tracks or a deer somehow walking on “our” lawn, the din is almost deafening. Tom was right about the deterrence of a large bark. An 82 pound barker certainly makes people hesitant about knocking on our door, but we also have an 82 pound puppy that still has to grow up!
We are not sorry we got her, as she is a lovable pet, but the noise level made Tom’s suggestion spot on.
Historically, sometimes a good idea does not always pan out. In September 1862, during the Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee, took his army and crossed the Potomac River from Virginia into Maryland. The idea was to wreak havoc in the Union, threaten Washington, D. C. from the rear and force the North into a settlement to end the conflict.
But that good idea had a not so good downside. Waiting for him was a Union army that was larger than his force, and after some preliminary skirmishes, the battle was joined on 17 September, 1863. When the day was ended, Lee was forced to retreat across the Potomac, accepting a tactical defeat, and losing more men than the South could afford. With the Northern losses, it became the bloodiest day in America’s war. But, that idea to attack the Union on its own soil had seemed like a good idea at the time.
In November 2020, the U. S. had a Presidential election in which around 81 million voters also had a good idea that seemed pretty good at the time. Donald Trump had been President for almost four years, and we were mired in the middle of a pandemic that seemed to be endless. Thousands perished from COVID-19, and Trump was famous for his use of Twitter to tweet what many considered ill-conceived and “mean” tweets about his political enemies and even some of his Republican friends.
In the campaign, charges and accusations were hurled at him and it got nasty at times. So, to change leaders seemed like a good thing to most voters. When the Democrats settled on Joe Biden as their nominee, the party seemed poised to take over the Oval Office.
However, the law of unintended consequences has caught up with all those who pulled the lever for the Democrat. Buyer’s remorse has set in, and a large percentage of those who wanted voted for Biden realize that his promises have not been kept.
First, Biden’s actions, through executive orders, made the U. S. once again dependent on foreign oil, where we had become energy independent for the first time in decades. He pledged to “end the pandemic”, but now more people have died of COVID under his watch than under Trump’s tenure.
With Biden’s blessing, a once proud military executed a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, and 13 Americans died for his decision. Our new President scrapped his predecessor’s border strategy and more than two million illegal aliens have poured across our Southern border.
Our relations with Russia and China have deteriorated, and both of those nations, who are not our friends or allies, have rattled sabers against their neighbors. Russia looks to menace Ukraine and Belarus, and has demanded that the U. S. not do anything to shore up “unfriendly” nations on their borders. China has become more belligerent toward Taiwan, once again claiming the prosperous island is a part of their nation. Also, they have continued to militarize the South China Sea, overturning the previous status quo of an international waterway.
In addition, the Chinese have taken over Hong Kong, violating the agreement that they made when that “colony” was reunited with them in 1997. And their Muslim minority in Western China, the Uyghurs, have been turned into slave laborers and herded into concentration camps. All along, all we see from our administration are words that are meaningless. At least under Trump these two nations were unsure just how he would react, and we were, more or less, feared during his administration.
During Trump’s tenure, inflation was kept under control, mostly in the 1-2 percent range. Under Biden, with more money pumped artificially into the economy, inflation has risen to 6.8%, and is expected to continue at a high rate for the foreseeable future. Gas prices have risen about $1.50 per gallon since Biden took office. Prices for goods, especially meat, have also shot up.
When Kamala Harris was selected to run with Biden, many thought having a biracial person in the second slot was good. Yet, her approval rating has sunk lower than Biden’s, even though Biden’s polling is the worst of any first term President, except for Trump’s first year. Harris has been seen as incompetent, doing little to justify her being “one heartbeat” away from the Presidency. She cackles at inopportune times, has done nothing to solve the problems Biden has given her, and has created (according to credible reports) a toxic work environment in her office.
One of the continuing problems with Biden is his mental abilities. Several times he has lapsed into incoherence when speaking, sometimes telling stories that are provably false, and having only a distant relationship with the truth from time to time.
What has been accomplished by the “good idea” of replacing Trump with Biden? It is hard to come up with accomplishments that are positive. The only response for some is simply, “Well, he isn’t Trump!” But is that enough to place someone in the most powerful office in the world?
Did those who voted for Biden really expect to get what has transpired? No. They thought they were voting in a moderate Democrat with years of experience in government who would run things efficiently. The media had told them over and over, that despite all of the good things that President Trump had accomplished for the country, his White House was disorganized and unprepared for the job of running the country. What those voters actually elected was a man sinking into dementia, who is relatively unintelligent, and who has done almost everything wrong since taking the oath of office. That is why many have “buyer’s remorse;” that is why the consequences of voting him into office were unforeseen; that is why what seemed like a good idea in the polling booth seemed like a good idea, but wasn’t.