America is on the verge of fragmentation and civil conflict because its citizens have lost control of their government and lost faith in its political institutions.

Nineteenth century political satirist Ambrose Bierce once described Washington D.C. as a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles and the conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

Indeed. Not much has changed one hundred years on.

The August 27, 2012  Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just eight percent (8%) of likely voters think that the US Congress is doing a good job.

Most Americans agree that the Democrat and Republican establishments are infested by individuals whose allegiance is not to their country, but to themselves and their political party. Their aim is to be unconstrained by the Constitution and the rule of law and unaccountable to the American people. Their conduct is driven by political expediency and winning elections for the sole purpose of obtaining power and profit.

The US has elections, but it no longer has representative government. The US has a free press, but one that is partisan and dishonest.

The Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists states:

Public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility.

The reality of American journalism bears no resemblance to that official portrait.Most Americans agree that the mainstream media represented by ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and the liberal newspapers are little more than propaganda machines for the Democrat Party and are distorting the news in an attempt to manipulate public opinion to support the reelection of Barack Obama.

Few American institutions remain untouched by political corruption.

Through the blatant careerism of senior officers like the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, even the American military has been politicized to further the goals of the Obama Administration by submitting to the agenda of radical Islam, attempting to suppress free speech, and undermining public trust in the military by allowing active duty personnel in uniform to engage in partisan politics through their participation in a gay pride parade.

The real issue of the 2012 election is the endemic corruption in the federal government perpetrated by a permanent political class, financed by crony capitalism and facilitated by a fawning media (“It’s the corruption, stupid”).

They have brought us to the brink of bankruptcy, have opened our borders to illegal immigration, and have permitted a fifth column promoting Sharia law to infiltrate our society and judicial system.

Most Americans agree that there are anti-democratic and anti-American forces working aggressively inside the government and country to reduce American global influence and to promote the interests of global financiers and ideologies hostile to the United States.

The Obama Administration is expecting reelection and expecting trouble. It has ordered nearly one billion rounds of hollow point bullets. Hint – that type of ammunition is not meant for target practice. The 750 million rounds ordered by Obama’s Department of Homeland Security alone is enough ammunition for the government to fire three rounds into the body of every living American citizen.

When the truth is eventually told, the chronicles of the Obama years will represent the most sordid in American history and symbolize a pivot point when self-serving politicians collaborated with a compliant press to trigger the fall of the American republic.

If Obama wins, the American people should be prepared for economic collapse, a full assault on Constitutional rights, societal fragmentation, and civil strife.

There is a criminal in the White House, who is bent on a radical transformation of the country and must be removed from office if the United States is to survive.

But representative government will not return to America simply by defeating Barack Obama. It will only return when ordinary Americans feel empowered by their political institutions, not oppressed by them.

Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. is a retired colonel with 29 years of service in the US Army Reserve and a veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq. Colonel Sellin is the author of “Afghanistan and the Culture of Military Leadership“. He receives email at lawrence.sellin@gmail.com