It wasnโt even twelve months ago that Americaโ political, economic, and cultural tectonic plates started to shiftโfinally in a positive direction.
Joe Bidenโs deteriorating mental condition was put on display for the world to see in his one and only Presidential debate; at the time this looked like the final nail in the coffin for the Left, which had no choice but to finally admit the very truth that they had spent years covering up.
The fact that so many top agents of the Leftโs disinformation campaign have now gone on to write books about the cover-up is a sad testament to modern America.
First it was CNNโs Jake Tapper, who blamed just about everyone else on the Left (except for himself) for presenting Joe Biden as a โsharp Presidentโ.
Now former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierreโthe official mouthpiece of the cover-upโis releasing a book called Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines.
The same woman who spent years lying to our faces now wants to lecture us about โthe importance of dismantling the torrent of disinformation and misinformation that has been rampant in recent elections.โ
Rather than be charged for the criminal conspiracy and fraud that she perpetuated on the United States, sheโll probably make millions in book royalties and speaking fees.
But I digress.
Anyhow, it was only a few weeks after Dementia-gate that a would-be assassin tried to take out Donald Trump; Trump then famously jumped back up, pumped his fist in the air, and yelled โFight, fight, fight!โ
I imagine quite a number of world leaders soiled their pants that day; they all suddenly realized that the fumbling, weak America that they had been accustomed to during the Biden era was no moreโฆ and that there was about to be a new sheriff in town.
And within a month, Trump had pulled the most powerful men in the country to his side– starting with Elon Musk.
It was the marriage that America desperately neededโa second-term President who had no Fโs to give about tearing up the swamp, combined with the richest guy in the world who had the energy and resources to make it happen.
After the election, Trump and Elon almost immediately made plans to drastically reduce the size of government, take a chainsaw to regulations, cut the deficit, and save Americaโs finances.
Confidence and optimism soared. Consumers, businesses, investorsโฆ everything came roaring back.
Then reality started to set inโgradually, then suddenly.
Elon put his entire business empire on hold to tackle what is literally Americaโs biggest problem: itโs $36+ trillion national debt and the government’s insatiable appetite for deficit spending.
The Left began fighting him immediately in every way imaginable. They defamed him in the media with hysterical allegations of โhijacking democracyโ. They took him to court. They staged mob rallies at government offices.
And when none of that worked, Leftist crazies began firebombing Tesla dealershipsโฆ all in an effort to make sure that not one cent was cut from Americaโs $1.8 trillion annual deficit.
The conservatives, for their part, said some very kind words about Elon. Yet they ultimately ignored everything and refused to codify the vast majority of his finds into the new budget.
In a final act of cowardice and duplicity, the House passed a bill that increased the deficit by about 10%, from $1.8 trillion to $2 trillion. Even adjusted for inflation, this is massive deficit growth.
Along the way, the Presidentโs advisors busied themselves making the case that Americaโs #1 problem is that the country imports too much.
Sure, you could make a spirited argument that the US is somewhat damaged by its trade deficit.
But the trade deficit is NOTHING compared to the national debt, not to mention the US governmentโs unfunded liabilities in programs like Social Security and Medicare.
In total (according to Treasuryโs own estimates), Americaโs liabilities surpass $100 trillion. It completely dwarfs trade imbalances.
Yet rather than setting their efforts on the key economic priorityโcutting the deficit through higher economic growth (which drives higher tax revenue) while slashing spending and reforming entitlements– they insisted that the only way to save the country was to blow up global trade.
They even called it Liberation Dayโwhich itself is a total farce.
โLiberation Dayโ should have been the day that thousands of freedom-killing, job-killing, productivity-killing regulations were eliminated once and for allโฆ or the day that Congress repealed pointless and expensive legislation.
Instead, everyone was liberated from inexpensive imported goodsโฆ and liberated from having a confident outlook on the future.
And at some point, in the relatively near future, Americans will also be liberated from having the global reserve currency.
It became clear at this point that the Trump/Elon relationship was strained. The โOne, Big, Beautifulโ deficit bill was the proverbial straw that broke the camelโs back.
Everyone saw the war of words last week. So did Putin, Xi, and every other adversary. It wasnโt a good look for the country or for the US governmentโs already stretched credibility.
These same adversaries have already figured out that the best way to tussle with America today is to simply stand your ground and not give in.
China figured it out with Liberation Day. Rather than grovel to the Trump administrationโs demands, they stuck to their guns and have generally outplayed American trade representatives.
Jamie Dimon acknowledged the same when describing his trip to China last month: โthe Chinese arenโt scaredโ about Liberation Dayโฆ or too much else for that matter.
And this Trump/Elon breakup will only embolden them even more. Capitalizing on your adversaryโs internal conflict is an old tactic dating back to Sun-Tzuโs Art of War, and the Chinese know it well.
Russia has figured it out too. Rather than bend and grovel to peace commandments in Ukraine, Putin has realized that he just needs to keep going. Hold the line. Continue bombing. Make absurd demands. And then wait for the US to foldโฆ or become distracted with more internal conflict.
Whatโs happening in Los Angeles only adds fuel to the American dumpster fire. More conflictโfull-blown insurrection in this caseโthat distracts and humiliates the US while emboldening adversaries.
Iran is almost certainly next; theyโve already pushed back on the nuclear deal, essentially saying, โNo, the US doesnโt get to tell us whether weโre allowed to enrich uranium.โ
Itโs been nearly a year since Trump jumped up from a bullet with his fist in the air… and America is already back on a downward trajectory with a pretty steep slope.
Internal conflict abounds. There appears to be little unity, little direction, little focus. And adversaries who were getting ready to capitulate six months ago are more powerful.
Not one to go quietly, Elon is now talking about starting a new political party. He certainly has the means to do it, and I imagine if he does, he will probably attract tens of millions of people who are disgusted by the liars and sell-outs on both sides.
Given that this is the guy who wants to colonize Mars, Iโm betting that he wonโt stop with a political party and will ultimately start his own country.
If Singaporeโbarely the size of an American suburbโcan be a sovereign state with a few million residents, itโs absolutely possible for Elon to start his own nation. And Iโm legitimately predicting that he will within the next few years.
It will probably be close to the USโa place where people want to live (and can live).
Maybe somewhere along the Canadian borderโbeautiful land, strategic location. Or in South Texas near the Mexican border (though rattlesnakes and scorpions are a harder sell).
In a world so bizarre, so full of unfortunate and missed opportunities, a Free State of Elon actually sounds pretty rational.