A FEARFUL PEOPLE?

By Edwin Cooney

For over a decade or two, I've observed that fear is the father of anger. It's only logical and yet disturbing that the social and spiritual fate of one Donald John Trump has become both the uniting and dividing factor in 21st Century American politics.

Throughout history, a large consensus of the public has had confidence in the fate of the home of the brave and the land of the free. However, this general faith appears to be cracking at the edges of our national awareness in the following ways:

(1) Some people believe that our climate is wantonly being destroyed by greedy capitalists urged on by the profit motive and they are exceedingly and genuinely frightened. However, their very fear is dismissed as being politically motivated due to their allegiance to socialistic doctrines rather than to their devotion to the lessons of science.

(2) In the belief that the fabric of traditional Christian and Judeo beliefs are being undermined by principles of "secular humanism" also akin to socialism, Christians and Jews believe that we're abandoning the "God of our fathers,” assuring our own ultimate failure.

(3) Politics has become principle and principle likewise has become politics. This undermines legality, thereby confusing and confounding traditional value structures and blurring the distinction between principle and practicality.

(4) Traditionally, Republicans are more inclined to be loyal to their leaders than Democrats. Hence the fate of former President Trump appears on the surface to matter more to Republicans than the faith and credit of our economic standing in the world while a Democratic president and a GOP House majority struggle over national spending priorities and strategies.

(5) It's hard for this observer to avoid the following observation: if fear is the father of anger, Americans are angrier at each other than we have been at any time since the lead up to the Civil War. We've opposed Russian and certainly Soviet authoritarianism up to the point of President Trump's possible association with Putin and other strong European dictators including those in Hungry, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Fortunately, we're still backing Ukraine.

As for the legal fate of Mr. Trump, the question has to be: what does Mr. Trump’s legal status have to do with our own national security?

The answer to that question is ultimately up to the capacity of our legal system. Of course, charges aren't and shouldn't be conclusive at the time of indictment. Out of necessity, officers of the court must make their case against Mr. Trump provable beyond a reasonable doubt. However, that doesn't mean that accusation constitutes proof. 

What worries me the most is that we've run out of our capacity for genuine equity. 

As of April 10th, 2023, all of our hopes, fears, desires, and conclusions about what ought or ought not to be have become predominately parochial!

Therein lies the path of disunion for the sake of those who would benefit most from the spoils of disunion!

Fortunately, there appears to be sufficient time to avoid disunion, but now is the time to start packing up the threads of healthy national unity and to start weaving them back together.

Remember, the most vital letter in U.S.A. is the “U.” Without that U, all we are are “states” in America and that means states in, not of, America.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY