This past weekend, America hit an important, although a bit overlooked, milestone. As of Sunday, we are exactly 366 days until the 2024 presidential election. Granted, between now and then, there is plenty of work to be done. But aside from that, as I looked at the calendar, I realized that political nerds like myself will now look at the election not just in terms of months and weeks but days. A question I, and I believe so many other Americans, have begun to ponder also popped back into my head. So I am going to ask it out loud. Can America make it to November 5, 2024?

Leadership matters and America needs leaders ready to state boldly the obvious:

America is in trouble, but we are going to get to work and fix our country.

I’m ready to get to work. pic.twitter.com/jYlq36mWzD

— Chief James Craig (@chiefjamescraig) November 4, 2023

While it might sound a bit melodramatic, I can't help but think that so many Americans are feeling the same way. For the first time in their lives, they are truly frightened for the future of our country. Not because of any one thing specifically, but the entire toxic stew that seems to be bubbling up, and no one in any position of authority is competent enough, or even seems to care enough, to handle it. I was 14 at the end of the Carter years. Not old enough to be paying attention, but I watched the news with my parents, you know, when it was actually news, and I heard what was said. I remember seeing the gas lines, and at 14, the final straw for me was no Olympic Games in 1980. 

America seems to have that same 1979 vibe right now. I am not sure if it is because I am no longer 14 or if it is a real thing. But 2023 seems a whole lot worse and exponentially more dangerous. We have problems here at home; 62 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck because of inflation that has not been seen since, well, Jimmy Carter. Because of inane liberal ideas like "defund the police," crime rates have skyrocketed, our southern border no longer exists, and illegal immigrants that we know nothing about are flooding into the country. A recent Customs and Border Patrol memo from the San Diego Field Office warned that terrorists involved in the Israel-Hamas war may attempt to cross the U.S. southern border. But as with most things with the Biden administration, that warning may have been too little too late, and they are not just coming across the border. They are using the visa system as well. Sound familiar? 

With @JoeBiden in office, we can set our clocks back to 1979.

Trouble in the Middle East.

Gas shortages.

High food costs.

Weak leadership in the White House.

We can do better America! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/qwBqGls8wK

— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) November 4, 2023

But the one thing that chills me to the bone is the byproduct of this potential World War III scenario — the virulent, unrelenting, and pathological antisemitism that has reared its head in a nation founded as the refuge for freedom and liberty for anyone seeking it in the world. It is an ugliness that many Americans, including myself, would have never thought we would see anywhere else in the world ever again, much less in America. Add in the fact that Iran, already funding Hamas, has threatened to become even more involved in the powder keg that is the Middle East, as have other nations. The complete ineptness and incompetence of Joe Biden and his hapless administration is on full display for all of America's enemies to see. While he claims "rock solid and unwavering support" for Israel, he is pushing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a "humanitarian pause" and criticizing Netanyahu's conduct of his nation's self-defense. Let's also add in the billions of dollars going to Ukraine. What happens when Xi Jinping looks at the calendar and realizes Joe Biden may only be in office for another year, and now might just be the time to invade Taiwan? What then?

America has been through a lot that could have easily been the end of her — a Civil War that literally pitted brother against brother, two world wars, and other bad presidents. She has always made it through, sometimes with some cuts and bruises, but she has always healed. But the collective threats America now faces could easily erupt into utter unmanageability well before the 2024 election, and we would have few options as to how to proceed. This game of beat-the-clock is a scary proposition, but if little old me is thinking about it, others surely are, too. 

But we are at one of the hottest, most unstable points in living memory. Maybe in nearly 100 years.

This is serious. We're in trouble. America and the west.

— Disaffected (@DisaffectedPod) November 6, 2023