When and Why We Stopped Trusting the Federal Government

It may have started in the 1960s when we lost a popular president, a leading presidential candidate, and an iconic Civil Rights leader to assassins’ bullets… all of which resulted in conspiracy theories and allegations of government coverups.  The mismanaged war in Vietnam – which claimed 58,220 American lives amidst a secretive government disinformation campaign, but still ended in a humiliating defeat to a third-world nation – certainly did not help matters.  And the Watergate debacle, which culminated in the first-ever resignation of a sitting U.S. president, further compounded the problem.

By the end of 1974, the aforementioned events had triggered a disturbing trend that has continued unabated ever since… and appears to be gaining an increasing amount of traction.  Specifically, I am referring to the number of American citizens who say that they no longer trust their federal government.

And I am one of them.

As a young man in the 70’s, I believed Jimmy Carter’s promise to never lie to the American people.  And, for the most part, I don’t think he did.  However, his gross incompetence as our chief executive led to gas rationing, 52 Americans being held hostage in Iran for 444 days, and hyper-inflation.  Forty years later, it is still hard to believe that I was charged 22% interest when I bought (and financed) my first used car.

Eight years of Ronald Reagan in the White House reassured me that – if not the career politicians in Congress – at least the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue loved our country and had relatively pure intentions.  In fact, Reagan’s reservations about the Washington bureaucracy were plainly evident when he famously quipped in a 1986 speech, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

Oh, how I miss the Gipper!

In January 1989, Reagan gave way to his handpicked successor, George H.W. Bush.  Say what you want about the patrician Bush 41, but at least there was an adult with a steady hand at the helm of America’s ship of state.  The same cannot be said of the “Frat Boy in Chief” that we elected in 1992, whose Oval Office shenanigans and grand jury perjury defiled the presidency itself.

Then came Bush 43, the horrors of 9/11, and the subsequent Second Gulf War.  Unlike the first one, this engagement had no defined end game.  As a result, the U.S. has been bogged down in that region of the world for the past two decades at a cost of more than 5,600 American lives and more than 6 trillion American dollars.

Seeking “hope and change,” Americans passed the presidential baton to a mixed-race freshman senator from Illinois.  However, Barack Obama insisted on playing the race card at every opportunity – further dividing our country – and his unscrupulous administration gave us Benghazi, Fast and Furious, trading money for hostages, spying on journalists, using the IRS to target conservative and religious non-profits, and 24 other examples of moral turpitude that are exposed and enumerated in The Scandalous Presidency of Barack Obama by Matt Margolis.

Not to mention, of course, the Russian collusion hoax, concocted with – at the very least – the tacit approval of Mr. Obama.

Donald J. Trump came to Washington with a singular goal: to drain the swamp.  And drain it he did… only to discover that the soulless creatures that inhabited it were more plentiful, powerful, and deeply entrenched than even he had imagined.  Four years later, “the Donald” was swept from power by a coalition of Progressives, never Trumpers, Big Tech, and media co-conspirators… aided and abetted by Dr. Anthony Fauci and his complete mismanagement of the COVID pandemic.

Now, a nearly octogenarian Joe Biden rules by fiat, issuing a record number of executive orders during his first 100 days in office.  Whether he is a true believer in the Progressive cause or merely a stumbling, bumbling figurehead remains to be seen.  Either way, I and millions of my fellow citizens have given up expecting fiscal responsibility and commonsense solutions from Washington DC.

We have become disillusioned – and frankly, disgusted – watching the Washington elite from Bill and Hillary Clinton to Joe and Hunter Biden commit crimes for which the rest of us would be serving time in a federal penitentiary.  And don’t get me started on Eric Holder, James Comey, William Brennan, and James Clapper… four of the most corrupt and conceited individuals to ever populate the CIA, the FBI, and the Department of Justice.

Fortunately, I live in Florida where Gov. Ron DeSantis and a Republican majority in the state legislature are doing an exceptional job safeguarding our economy… as well as our freedoms.   But until and unless there is a remake of Jimmy Stewart’s 1939 film classic and Mr. DeSantis Goes to Washington, I will look to Tallahassee – and not the District of Columbia – for moral leadership and good governance.

Meanwhile, I will continue to cast my eyes heavenward for true justice and deliverance.

Dale Glading
About Dale Glading 95 Articles
Dale Glading is an ordained minister and former N.J. Republican candidate for Congress.