Here are a couple of quotes from two of the most respected Presidents of the United States:
"However combinations or associations of the above description [politcal parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion…
“Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.” - George Washington Washington and the “Spirit of Party” – PILEUS
“Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.” - Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln's Lyceum address - Wikipedia
The question I pose to you, good reader, is this: Were they right? Why or why not? If yes, then what does the seemingly ever increasing polarization of US politics portend for the future of our nation, and how close are we to the fulfillment of this ‘prophecy’?
I’m honestly not sure how close we are to irreversible damage, but the political parties certainly have taken us a long way in that direction. It has turned the government of our republic into a team sport, with the American public being the losers. And, the sad truth is, the American people have done it to themselves by continuing to play the game of the political parties. They have put up increasingly bad candidates because they know people will just see a “D” or an “R” in the voting booth and automatically push the button for whichever candidate is beside that letter. That has led to candidates who are horrible for our nation. Some of those candidates then go on into elected positions, and they become the new normal. It sets off a deteriorating cycle.
I don’t know that we are at irreversible damage yet or not, but I no longer have faith that said point is anything other than inevitable. I do not believe that third parties will ever truly gain a lasting foothold (sure, we may eventually have one party go the way of the whigs while a new one rises in its place, but we will never have more than two major parties in this country, IMO).
Without multiple, evenly balanced parties, or even better, no parties at all (a pipe-dream at best), I believe we will continue to become more and more polarized as we continue, until eventually we will tear ourselves apart.
Mark 3:24-25
24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
“As we peer into society’s future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower
…more like half of our nation needs to grow up. The next election will be here soon enough but the actions by the left are both disgraceful to our nation as well as themselves.
You elected a child to the presidency and are telling the left to grow up?
Seriously?
I’ll never forget how many Trump supporters told me they voted for him because he made the left mad. I think that’s who you need to be worried about “growing up”.
When I compare the side that lost to President Obama and compare it against the side that lost to President Trump…today’s losers are petulant children. I agree that President Trump is the most childish POTUS I’ve ever seen but that’s NO excuse for the behavior and division I’m witnessing. It’s past shameful and if you don’t see that, it’s because you’re a part of the problem.
Actions of everyday people do not have the impact of the MSM who may be the worst ones dividing our nation? The lies they perpetuate as the truth, only to make a correction later that doesn’t anywhere near have the same level of exposure as the lie. It’s absolutely disgraceful and I will NEVER spend a time supporting them.
Also, bonus irony for acknowledging you’ve elected the most childish person to the presidency and still have the nerve to blame everyone else for being childish.
