By Edwin Cooney
When America goes to the polls tomorrow, it appears that such fundamental issues as climate change, equal representation in government, and the rights of women to make personal medical choices will not likely be resolved. The only struggle likely to be addressed is which of the two major political parties will control our national government. The results of tomorrow's election will most likely reflect, more than anything else, the effectiveness of the messages put out by one party's media minions.
Only 246 years have passed since our 13 colonies declared themselves free of Great Britain and merely 233 years have flown by since we established our federal system of checks and balances. We then proceeded to fill a vast continent with largely white Anglo-Saxon peoples. Hence, in comparison with the rest of humanity, be they born in Mesopotamia, China, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain or Britain, we're vastly new at governing ourselves. Of course, for much of the past 200 plus years we've governed ourselves better than most, but the world “turns" and expands and new opportunities for both unity and conflict persist in coming up for our consideration and selection. Never have we possessed so much while at the same time appearing to be on the edge of losing almost everything except a meager disconnected existence. In other words, we may well be on the cusp of a new "dark age" perhaps as bleak as Medieval Europe!
The attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home and husband by 42-year-old David DePape has elements beyond left and right, even beyond wrong and right. What's even more frightening insofar as I'm concerned are questions such as:
(1.) What type of behavior do we expect of ourselves versus what we are willing to tolerate from political leadership?
(2.) How united or divided is America in 2022?
(3.) Does “right” hate “left” and “left” hate “right” so much that human tolerance must be replaced by some form of authoritarianism as long as that authoritarianism is economically profitable?
What's most disturbing is hearing candidates for sheriff, mayor, governor, and the House and Senate promise to take on crime "head on" (whatever that means!) and then minimize the seriousness of the attack on Paul Pelosi!
Government at all levels has to be accountable. Too many leading politicians in 2022 insist on the predominance of freedom over government. The fact of the matter is that freedom without government is anarchy. National freedom demands, as do personal freedom and family obligation, mutually supportive rules and expectations.
The most dangerous legacy of Trumpism is the expectation that a single leader can be above all law and accountability. It's my hope that some time within the coming months someone is going to force Mr. Trump publicly to demonstrate his obligation of accountability should he be elected to a second term. Since June of 2015, Donald John Trump has appeared to possess a degree of infallibility worthy of the most authoritarian medieval monarch or pope.
The Tuesday off-year election of 1814 solidified the authority of President James Madison in the wake of the War of 1812. On November 8th, 1842, the legitimacy of our first unelected president, John Tyler, was endorsed along with the legitimate independence of an opposition congress. On Tuesday, November 8th, 1870, the American people elected a congress that supported the establishment of America's new Industrial Age with all its assets and liabilities. In 1898, following victory in the Spanish-American War, Americans adopted President William McKinley's international expansionism. On Tuesday, November 8th, 1910, we elected a new progressivism congress in opposition to President William Howard Taft's conservatism. In 1938, the people put limitations on FDR's New Deal. In 1966, LBJ's authority was checked in the wake of the Vietnam war. Finally, in 1994, the GOP's "Contract with America," in opposition to President Bill Clinton, became a temporary political reality.
Today, we're on the verge of a new version of what's expected in America's body politic. We could know more after tomorrow although, at the outset, I asserted that was unlikely. Still, tomorrow's election of the entire House and one third of the United States Senate, as practically non-responsive as it may be, will begin to give us a clue to our future.
Remember, our democratic-republican government is only 246 years old while the royal authoritarian-type government has thousands of years of experience. It constantly beckons citizens who have lots of money to rule. Examples include the truly “great” like Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, and England's Henrys.
Next week I'll share with you a most revealing warning sign of that possibility.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
No comments:
Post a Comment