Nothing is more terrifying than being out of control and left to the fate of gravity, momentum, and unmovable objects. In the short video clip above, we do not know all the facts surrounding this accident, but one thing is clearly evident, that the driver was causing the car to go too fast for the corner. It wasn’t the car’s fault. It wasn’t the roadway’s fault. It wasn’t the ditch’s fault or the dirt embankment. The driver has to assume the majority of the blame for this crash. Now, one can argue about the warning the driver had about the curve in the road. We cannot determine conclusively from this video any of that evidence, although red arrow signs are present indicating a turn to the left. Driving can be dangerous, especially if a driver is unfamiliar with the road, conditions on the road, and the car’s capability. Through the years, traffic engineers have attempted to mitigate many potential road hazards. It all begins with the road lay-out. Maybe in this case sharp curves were inevitable due to the road winding along a creek through mountainous terrain. Whatever the reason for the winding road, there were still undoubtedly efforts made to warn drivers of the road ahead, like the red arrow signs pointing to the left.
Without getting too far into the weeds in this analogy we are presenting, we would just like to point out the amount of advance planning that traffic engineers go through to ensure a road is safe for travel. Warning signs for roadways initially started in Missouri in 1937. Research was published by the “Highway Research Board” in 1940. Much of this was adopted in the “1948 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices”. We selected one state’s “Traffic Engineering Operations & Safety Manual” as an example. That state was Wisconsin (Wisconsin, dtsd manual, traffic-ops, February 2018). Chapters 2 and 3 contain much of the guidance concerning curves in roadways. There are 14 pages, “2-3-35 Advisory Speed in Curves”, that contain much of the information about roadway curves. Those pages cover the evolution of policy, lateral acceleration, ball-bank reading, charts, formulas, methodologies, traffic characteristics, roadway geometrics, traffic control devices, and of course speed data. Never let it be said that there is never any planning in roadway curve construction, or that traffic engineers don’t earn their pay!
We are pretty sure that everyone reading this blog has at some point in time failed to adequately PLAN AHEAD. It is usually unwise to proceed forward with any task if at least some consideration is not given to the road ahead. Are there potential pitfalls, or has consideration been given to unexpected occurrences? Advance planning can lead to better outcomes, and in the case of the driver in the video above, maybe a safe continuation forward to the desired destination. It’s time now to connect the dots and bring our analogy into the proper context of today’s blog.
We are quite frankly gob-smacked, to the point of slapping our foreheads with the palms of our hands, each and every time our current government officials make policy or take action. Washington D.C. is often “a day late and a dollar short.” Every situation that seems to crop up, whether it be the invasion at our southern border, the policies crippling our energy independence, the bungled retreat from Afghanistan, or even now, the ineptitude exhibited in our Nation’s response to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, it is evident that those in control of the power levers in our Nation’s capital have been “shooting from the hip” and guessing about future courses of actions. Other cases could also be mentioned, like our supply-chain issues, our dependence upon other nations, primarily China, for products that sustain our economy. We could also throw in how government colluded with, and was assisted by big pharma, corporate elites, and the woke media. As Robert Gates (former Defense Secretary) once said, “I think he [current occupant of the White House] has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades”, (The Atlantic, Philip Bump). Every decision that has been blundered upon has been done so with warning signs present well in advance warning of potential catastrophic outcomes. However, due to ineptitude, rashness, foolishness, and arrogance, warnings were ignored, or not even seen or contemplated, due to a rush to preconceived woke outcomes, and in some cases, due to a fear of reprisal from those who have compromised them with gifts, money, and entangled associations.
Throttling our Border Patrol and ICE agents, and not allowing them to follow national law, has allowed this influx of illegal aliens into our Nation, and actually encouraged and supported financially through NGOs (Non-Government Organizations), usually funded by your tax dollars and distributed willy-nilly by Congress with little if any proper oversight. We all saw the growing number of caravans coming up from the south, especially after the current occupant of the White House said, “I would in fact make sure that there is, that we immediately surge to the border all those people are seeking asylum. they deserve to be heard.” (RealClearPolitics, John Kass, March 24, 2021.) The nine-thousand oil leases touted by the current Press Secretary are just the tip of the gargantuan process needed to make good on any of those oil leases. The fact is, “. . . it could take up to 10 years of overcoming regulatory hurdles and years of drilling before the oil well of an ‘approved’ lease becomes fruitful: They must organize and safely manage their reservoir and satisfy several regulatory requirements, such as onsite inspection, environmental review and permit approval.” (CNSnews, Craig Bannister, March 7, 2022.) As far as the bungled retreat from Afghanistan goes, which resulted in the deaths of 13 American service personnel, and 45 were injured (NBCnews, February 4, 2022), it was well known that the Taliban was seizing vast territorial power weeks before the retreat. “Leaked notes from a White House Situation Room meeting the day before Kabul fell shed new light on just how unprepared the [current occupant of the White House] administration was to evacuate . . . “ “Hours before the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan’s capital on Aug. 15, 2021, senior [occupant of the White House] administration officials were still discussing and assigning basic actions involved in a mass civilian evacuation.” (Axios, Jonathan Swan, February 1, 2022.)
It continues to happen where the current administration in Washington D.C. lacks the foresight and ability to see, predict, and prepare for anything that is happening to our Nation and around the world. It is apparent that the current administration is one of a reactive nature, not predictive nature. The road signs have warned us of the dangerous curves ahead, but the current administration seems bent on driving blindly forward, not calculating what dangers lie ahead. As the once most powerful Nation on this earth, the current administration has left us weak and feckless. We are an insult to those who once looked up to us as a beacon of FREEDOM and LIBERTY. We are coming late to any action, never leading anymore, and have been showing that when we do respond, we will pick the worst possible course of action and at the most inopportune time. This Nation must PLAN AHEAD, for there is always a DANGEROUS CURVE AHEAD! For those of us who treasure our Constitution and Bill of Rights, it is long past time to get involved, to stand proudly, to speak loudly, and to counter each and every attack upon our Nation, and upon what it stands for, and to restore everything good, decent, moral, truthful and just. May God bless the United States of America! However, He may only do that if we take actions with the talents we have been blessed with in order to protect, preserve, and maintain the FREEDOM and LIBERTY handed down to us through the ages, the same hoped for by those who will yet live within the borders of this great Nation.
