JOHN F. FLOYD: Politicians should act as Americans, not Republicans or Democrats
During Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, someone said, “The relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States is the beating heart for the free world.”
I had to think about that for a minute. If the aspiring free nations of the world are depending on the United States for symbolism and leadership, they are in serious trouble. The U.S. can’t even get its own house in order.
From domestic violence, international relations including world order, inflation, immigration, gun control, energy policy and drug infestation, the U.S. is in turmoil. Whether one is Democrat, Republican or independent, poor leadership or the lack of leadership is the cause of this country’s plunge into the abyss of depravity.
Partisan politics is the culprit. When will the governing bodies of the U.S. start to act as Americans rather than Democrats and Republicans?
One example of misguided international policy is the Ukraine conflict. The issue of bringing Ukraine into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was the catalyst that made a paranoid leader like Russian President Vladimir Putin think he had to attack that country.
Ukraine never belonged in NATO. To avoid the death and destruction brought about by the Russian invasion, NATO should never have encouraged Ukraine to abandon its neutrality in 2014, after Russia seized Crimea, and seek membership.
Now to make matters worse, NATO is on the verge of granting membership to Sweden and Finland, two countries who saw no reason for joining the organization until they felt threatened by Russia.
Finland and Ukraine have some 2,500 miles of direct border with Russia. And Russia is paranoid about threats from the West, brought on by the German invasions of World War II. To complicate the situation, the U.S. has now promised Ukraine intermediate range missiles.
Step by step, the U.S. is escalating involvement in the Russo/Ukraine conflict. What is our end game?
America, as leader of the free world, is stumbling. The seamless transition into a world economy is running out of gas. Walter Russell Mead, in a commentary in the May 24 edition of The Wall Street Journal, said, “CEOs who based their strategic planning on globalization must adjust to a world growing less seamless with every passing day. Political leaders who expected to steer their countries through the quiet waters of the end of history are instead raising defense spending and reviewing their military alliances.”
Mead further stated that Biden and many of his advisors “appear to believe that the strength of the American world system depends on the global appeal of American values, and that the best way to protect the American order is to double down on democracy promotion, the strengthening of international institutions, and defense of human rights. Foreigners for the most part, are more pragmatic and often judge the American system based on its ability to deliver economic gains.”
In other words, “What have you done for me lately?”
Inflation is a foreign word to most Americans — that is, until it raises its ugly head here. Inflation has been under control in the U.S., except for a couple of times, for as long as I can remember. But now it is running about 8% and biting into our country’s most vulnerable, the lower and middle class.
Inflation hurts everyone, but not as much as low-wage earners. None of our politicians has the foggiest answer for today’s gigantic inflation problem.
There is enough blame to go around, but the No. 1 cause of inflation is the current administration’s energy policy. President Joe Biden was determined to eliminate America’s appetite for fossil fuels.
This is a noble goal, if done in a measured format. Instead of taking a meat cleaver to the issue, he should have introduced a program that would have met the administration’s objectives, but in an orderly way.
Shut down coal burning plants, but only after replacing them with solar and wind capacity, if possible. Convert gasoline vehicles to electric power, but only in a way to avoid mass confusion because of a lack of infrastructure.
Have a plan for used battery disposal. Disposal of used batteries will be a huge environmental problem. Accelerate programs that address electric storage stations for times when wind and solar aren’t available.
Getting from gasoline to electric vehicles is not so difficult if you have a plan.
Immigration is a problem that requires more space than I have left. Next time.
John F. Floyd is a Gadsden native who graduated from Gadsden High School in 1954. He formerly was director of United Kingdom manufacturing, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., vice president of manufacturing and international operations, General Tire & Rubber Co., and director of manufacturing, Chrysler Corp. He can be reached at johnfloyd538@gmail.com. The opinions reflected are his own.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Turmoil and poor leadership in the United States
