What Happened To My State?

I was born in Rutland, Vermont back in 1958. I lived much of my youth there. I lived in several places around the state. Much of what formed the person I am today came from the values that were part of every day life in the Green Mountain State.

Life in Vermont in those days was, full of work and play, but no real worries. We took care of the morning chores before heading off to school. We played outside until dark, then clean up for dinner, homework and bed.

In the summer we spent our time in the woods hiking and fishing, swimming, bike riding, baseball… all the things kids love to do on a warm, sunny day. In the winter there was sledding, skiing, even hunting. Most of this was done without direct parental supervision. (Ahh, but do not think that we, as children were not taught about safety and responsibility, and we never used weapons unless we had an adult with us.) For the most part, our parents only worried that we might injure ourselves falling out of a tree or some other mishap related to normal childhood activity.

If something did happen, which was actually rare, we all knew that we could count on our neighbors. In fact, taking care of and looking out for our neighbors was an everyday thing.
A snowy winter morning might consist of shoveling the walk and plowing out the drive, followed by taking care of the widow or elderly neighbor down the road. This would include making sure they had enough heat, (many times kerosene or wood,) and food. Doors were rarely, if ever locked. The biggest exception would be when the summer squash would come in. This grew in abundance, and everyone had some, so much in fact they would leave it on your table when you were out, or put a large bag in your car while you were shopping! You locked the car and house just to keep from getting more!

I moved out of the state many years ago, mostly because economic opportunities were not all that abundant. I have been back as a visitor many times, but it was not the same as the carefree childhood playground I grew up in. Most of the farms are now gone. Many of the residents were outsiders, not native to the state. People did not know, or even care about their neighbors. Security gates abound, along with signs waning trespassers about the consequences of entering where they are no longer welcome. The old swimming hole, Elfin Lake located just outside of Wallingford, is now a gated community where only the elite can afford to live, and only those with permission can enter.

The government has become a haven for socialists who claim they care, but leave the unconnected in the cold. Where we once knew our elected officials by first name, few even know what they look like. Where once we could trust our neighbors, sex offenders are allowed to roam free, the security locks and bars on the windows are the only thing between the safety of the children and the predators.

This has been coming for a very long times now and, unfortunately, is a symptom of things to come on a national level as we “progress” toward the same thinking as those who have destroyed my once beloved state.

Back in January of 2006, Fox News commentator Bill O’Rielly highlighted the case of Judge Edward Cashman who handed down a 60 day sentence to Mark Hulett who admitted to raping a 7 year old so many time, he did not remember the number. Officials have said they have the most progressive and successful sex offender rehabilitation program in the country. This appears so successful that many sex offenders have moved to the state because they know they will never receive a harsh sentence, or any real punishment at all. In fact, according to the news reports and a few contacts in the state, it now appears that many of these sex offenders are now part of organized sex rings, operated right under the collective noses of the very officials who claim these people simply need understanding and help. This is not the help our society needs, nor is it the same sort of help we offered our neighbors back in the day.

Mexico At War?

It is true, or at least I believe it to be. So do many others.

But just who would they be at war with, you might ask. For news junkies such as myself, the answer is rather obvious. The drug cartels! True, they have been at each other for a while now. Violence has escalated. But look deeper into the stories and you will come to the same conclusions as I have if you are honest with yourself. War does not have to be declared to exist.

One by one the cartels take a town. Now and again the government sends in troops to retake control, but everywhere they go there is still uneasiness and fear. In response, the drug lords taunt the government, sometimes by hanging banners with statements mocking the government. Eventualy though, the cartels reign once again.

How did it get to this point? The government has long been in the pockets of the cartels. It has probably been the worse kept secret that the drug lords have been paying off officials to look the other way while they continue their nefarious deeds. But lately, the price has been getting too high, and the government is under a lot of pressure to reign in the cartels so they attempted to put on a show the cartels did not like.

To keep the drug and human smuggling rings working and all the lanes of traffic open, the cartels started getting more and more violent, bringing more pressure on the government from places such as the United States to get control of the violence that has been spilling across the border. It has finally come to the point that the cartels have decided to simply take over the entire country.

The cartels have not officially declared a war on Mexico. It would not be a wise move. For one, an open and declared war would not only force the government to send out the entire military at once to stop the cartels, it would force the United States to step in, and possibly even the UN. (They can peacekeep the drug lords to death! The smugglers would end up laughing themselves to death!) All of this would distract the smugglers from their business and cut too deep into their profits which amount to billions each year.

So, they continue as they are, openly recruiting the police and military as they go, one town at a time. As the cartels are much better armed, trained and financed, the government is almost helpless to stop them. Without intervention from outside, which the government is not all that willing to ask for since they would have to admit to having some real problems that are actually very painfully obvious to everyone outside, they do not stand much of a chance of winning.

But, can the United States tolerate a country on their southern border that is run by these criminal gangs?