President Trump's comments at a press conference on Labor Day confirmed that he is fully aware that a faction in the U.S. military and intelligence community is actively engaging in the ongoing coup against him. In pointed remarks against the “endless wars” initiated by the G.W. Bush and Obama administrations, he stated again that he would put an end to these wars, while identifying what former President Dwight Eisenhower famously called the "Military-Industrial Complex" (MIC) as responsible for entrapping the United States in such wars. He differentiated between the rank-and-file military, which he said support him, and the “top people in the Pentagon," who he said "want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs, and make the planes, and make everything else, stay happy." Describing the succession of wars since 9/11 as "One cold-hearted betrayal after another," he concluded by reiterating that "we’re getting out of the endless wars…. Let’s bring our soldiers back home.”

Watching the Democratic Party's national convention, it is readily apparent that those backing Joe Biden's candidacy are hoping that Americans are suffering from collective amnesia.  Instead of presenting a substantive program for addressing the crises facing the nation, the speeches were scripted around the theme that the majority of Americans are like lost children, who desperately need a hug from the President, to assure them that everything will be alright, and that the election can be won by eliciting a wave of nostalgia for the "good old days" of the eight years of the Obama-Biden administration.  Though not as nasty as Hillary Clinton's enraged quip in 2016 describing Donald Trump's supporters as a "basket of deplorables," the tone nevertheless betrays a haughty condescension, which typifies the party establishment's attitude toward voters.

In a radio interview this week with host Hugh Hewitt, President Trump sent a clear signal that he is moving towards negotiating a new nuclear arms pact with Russia. Despite the endless slanders and smears asserting that he is beholden to President Putin, due to alleged Russian intervention on his behalf in the 2016 election—a charge intended to deter him from working with Putin—Trump stated, "We're dealing with Russia right now on a nuclear pact....They want to do it.  They want to do it badly.  And it's a great thing.  This is the biggest problem in the world today.  We're dealing with Russia right now on that."

As we, as a people, move through the month of August, 2020, with a Presidential election now only three months away, the question is posed to each of us: Do we have the moral fitness to survive? We are not outside observers of these events, nor is it our job to “report on” or make commentaries about what is transpiring. The issue before us is, as Abraham Lincoln posed it: Will government of the people, by the people, and for the people – the greatest experiment in the freedom to do good and foster human creativity in history – survive and prosper into the future? The responsibility to ensure that this occurs lies within each of us, and the decisions we make and actions we take over the next 12 weeks will determine the outcome.