Montana Viewpoint: What’s the point?
Jim Elliott
Try as I might, I cannot make sense of what our government is aiming for in the long run. Of course, the stated goal is to make America great, or great again, or healthy again. OK, I agree, those are worthy goals. But I do not understand how any of the federal government’s actions are going to do anything to accomplish those goals.
The stature of America among the nations of the world was enviable. Those we supported, Europe, Canada, Mexico, supported us in turn. Those who didn’t support us feared us, and rightly so. We have the world’s pre-eminent fighting forces, at least until the Secretary of Defense brought 800 Generals and elite line officers from all over the world to Quantico, Virginia and told them to their faces that they were soft, fat, and unkempt. Never mind that one person with the flu could have confined the entirety of the military officers assembled there to sick bay.
The President himself did not seem proud of them, and he is their Commander-in-Chief.
He mentioned the possibility of training the military by policing American cities. Secretary of Defense Hegseth wants to build battleships, like the battleships he used to see in the television series “Victory at Sea”. It seems he wants a return to the military that he watched on TV when he was a child. Those days are gone, Mr. Secretary.
The chaos over tariffs is supposed to strengthen America’s manufacturing capabilities, but the uncertainty of what is being taxed, where it is being imposed, and for how long does not instill sufficient confidence in the business community to create investments in domestic manufacturing facilities. Nor does this same uncertainty instill confidence in our trading partners, many of whom will form trading alliances with nations they feel are more trustworthy than the United States. China now buys almost all their soybeans from other countries. To date, this year they have ordered no shipments of soybeans from American farmers. Last year at this time they had filled 40% of their soybean needs from America.
Punishing America’s greatest research universities because students and faculty are exercising their Constitutional right to free speech by cutting of research grants is counterproductive to creating invention and innovation which is a huge driver of our economy.
I do not understand how cancelling highway projects benefits anyone. I do not understand how masked government agents improves trust in government. I do not understand how dismantling America’s health care system makes us healthier.
More importantly, I do not understand how enabling our two great enemies, China and Russia, in their quest for world domination helps anyone in the United States, or anywhere else for that matter.
It is obvious that this chaos is a concerted effort, well thought out, well planned, and well executed. The people behind it are not dumb. In fact, they may be brilliant in a very destructive way. They want to accomplish something. What? Why? Is it personal? How does destroying America and the world order that we created over the past 80 years help anyone—other than our enemies. Or is that the point? Are these nefarious agents of change working for some other side? It’s hard to belief they are working for ours.
Montana Viewpoint has appeared in weekly and online newspapers across Montana for
over 30 years. Jim Elliott served sixteen years in the Montana Legislature as a state
representative and state senator. He lives on his ranch in Trout Creek.