By Edwin Cooney
Customarily, the President of the United States addresses you and me at the outset of any speech as "my fellow citizens.” As we approach the 2024 presidential and congressional elections, I'm convinced that most voters would agree that we are a very divided people. Nevertheless we still identify ourselves as “The United States of America.” Whether or not we're as divided in 2023-24 as we were from 1861 through 1865 may be only a matter of political semantics. (We must never forget that the goal of the Civil War for the South was the creation of a separate nation.) Even more significant, insofar as I'm concerned, is that beginning in 2025, some would-be presidents may appeal to our resentments and to our fears more than they do to the traditional sentiments that unite you and me. Back in 2,000, presidential candidate George W. Bush asserted that he was a "uniter and not a divider." Some of us, me included, didn't take Mr. Bush seriously. Still, I'm sorry to observe that such an appeal would be unwelcome in today's Republican Party. Even sadder is the realization that President Abraham Lincoln's appeal to "the better angels of our nature" seems alien to who we are today.!
Early in my political experience as a “Goldwater Republican,” I believed (as many political extremists do) that if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. That hypothesis sounds good, but it asserts that there is only one way and every other way is illegitimate.
As I see it, therein lies the seed of our division in 2023-24. Of course, we're all "fellow people," but our ultimate significance and power comes from a united and well-meaning citizenry.
You and I will live and perhaps even thrive whether or not Donald Trump goes to jail. Should he be re-elected, that outcome could be another matter.
Everyone's natural and personal legitimacy matters. That natural legitimacy is the basis of citizenship. Checks and balances within government have mattered since the days of Madison, Jefferson, and Washington. However we may feel about each other’s lifestyles, the assumption of everyone's liberty is vitally critical to our nation’s future. If political leaders can advocate for a person’s downfall or the denial of anyone's existence and even advocate for their isolation (for example, LGBTQ people) than we're in denial of our own legitimacy.
My call for unity may lack fire and fury and as such may even be downright boring! However, continuous or institutional resentment and anger constitute the sheer path to future nationwide autocracy or anarchy!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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