Are we becoming two Americas? Are we half liberal, Democrat, progressive and the other half conservative, Republican, traditional Americans? And if we are, can we ever get together at some level for the good of the country? In my several years on this planet, I’ve seen many presidential administrations come and go. I’ve seen successful Democrat presidents and I’ve seen successful Republican presidents. I fondly remember Democrat Harry Truman and I also fondly remember Republican Ronald Reagan. Some of the administrations had like-thinking Congresses and some had to deal with opposition in Congress. Regardless, most of these administrations were capable of governing and successful with their attempts.
Don’t get me wrong. Most elected administrations have had to work to get the job done. But the job, for the most part, got done. In my lifetime, America has been involved in several major wars and many more so-called police actions. Most, but not all, were concluded with America and her influence intact.
Today we have evolved to a state of debilitating non-compromising, party-first-country-second, I-win-you-lose politics. The people we’ve hired to govern seem to prefer their political party over their country. Bickering has become the order of the day. We are involved in an interminable war in the Middle East that has lasted more than 10 years, the longest war in our history, and there seems to be no end in sight. Scandal after scandal keeps popping up. Government agencies and lifelong civil servants seem incapable of doing their jobs and even less interested in the good of the country.
Poll after poll finds the American people fed up. Fed up with both the president and the Congress. Today President Obama has the lowest approval rating of his presidency. Congressional approval ratings are much lower yet. The people are also fed up with civil servants who refuse to answer questions and explain their mistakes and misjudgments.
Have we gone too far to recover? Can people of good faith, people who love this country, sit down and work out satisfactory solutions to our problems? Everything isn’t politics. For the good of the country, sometimes the Republicans have to win. For the good of the country, sometimes the Democrats have to win. The most important thing is that the country wins.
Today we have major problems facing us. Our never-ending war in the Middle East for one. We have scandals which will not go away and they must be resolved. Now we are faced with possibly the most dangerous issue we have seen for decades. That is the invasion on our southern border of illegal aliens from all over the world. We absolutely cannot afford this influx of illegals. They are who knows who from who knows where. They bring nothing to this country but problems and costs.
It’s past time for adults, liberal and conservative, to get together and fix the messes. They are not going away. We are not two Americas. We are one country that needs to resolve its differences for the good of the whole.
