Wednesday, February 5, 2020

The true State of the Union: perilously disunited


The overwhelming impression I got from last night's State of the Union address is that our nation is perilously dis-united, so much so that it's verging on dysfunctional.

I'm not going to go into the tasteless, classless, infantile and rude behavior of certain politicians.  Enough has been said about that elsewhere.  It certainly portrayed them, and the offices they hold, in a very negative light - one that in the old days would have been met by calls from their own political party to resign, rather than tolerate such antics, because they demean the offices in question.  Not today, unfortunately.

The main concern for me is the attitude that "If we can't get what we want through the ballot box, we're going to do anything and everything possible to get it in any other way possible - and damn the cost!"  It's a ruthlessness, a lack of respect for the will of the people, that bodes very ill for our future as a nation.  When such attitudes and behavior are on blatant public display, as they were last night, one can only ask how long before they override normal political discourse, and lead to a complete breakdown of our system of government.  When function is disrupted, we're left only with dysfunction - and that should scare all of us.  That leads to 1861, all over again.

Is it possible to turn back from that brink?  Is it in any way feasible to restore civilized discourse and behavior?  I don't know . . . but I'm left in serious doubt about it.  I see too many parallels to the October Revolution, or the Reichstag Fire, or any other similar historical event that allowed radicals to impose their will on all others.  I think we're at a point in our political discourse where there are all too many firebrands in our midst, who would seize upon any opportunity that arose to do the same thing here.

That would, of course, destroy our constitutional republic . . . but how many would stand against it?  I fear many Americans have become supine, resigned to their voice and their vote not making a difference in the ongoing partisan imbroglio in Washington.  Many who would take a stand are far away from the center of power, and might not be able (or might feel they are unable) to do enough from where they are to affect matters there.

Those are my thoughts following the State of the Union speech.  I wish they were more cheerful . . . but after so many classless, tasteless, vituperative and vindictive displays last night (and we all know who made them), I'm afraid such thoughts are inevitable.  I hope and pray that I'm wrong.

Peter

9 comments:

Odysseus said...

Really really wish I could disagree with you. I worry we're just marking time between Harper's Ferry and Sumter.

C. S. P. Schofield said...

Historically, this divide between major partiers is about normal. A little worse than usual, but typical of periods during which one faction is losing power and angry about it. I suppose the Progressive Left is probably heading for a Last Ditch Effort to regain control, but I their recent efforts have been so incompetent that I find it hard to believe they'll achieve much. Especially if they go violent; they aren't especially good at it.

Borepatch said...

I have a different take. We saw the Democratic party split last night.

Old NFO said...

Can't disagree.. Dammit...

Beans said...

Yes, we can pull back from the precipice. And this is how.

Let the Dems go off the edge to the left. Already headed there and this year looks like the breaking point. Let them fracture, let them attack themselves.

Meanwhile, in reality land, you'll see like what happened in the SOTU last night. Less radical Dems starting to break with the party. Slowly at first, but you'll see more and more spall off. I see it with some of the idiot dems here where I live. They are starting to get punch drunk and loopy.

Yes, the leftiest lefties are going to do stupid stuff and go violent, after all, it's what they do, always, when backed into the corner.

As long as only the looney left goes crazy physically, we'll be all right in the end.

If the whole party went crazy, then yes, we're doomed. But right now it actually looks like a moderate donkey party is going to break away and return to reality.

I hope.

tsquared said...

I missed the SOTU. I had a co-worker ask me if I had seen it and my reply was that I had read my EOY financial report on my 401k and it had gained 50% in 3 years. I knew what the SOTU was. I can stand 5 more years of this then I will convert everything to bonds and fully retire.

DavidFromOhio said...

One thing I agree with vox day on is diversity plus proximity equals conflict. The west is pushing diversity in every category. With less and less places to run to

Will said...

The Loony Left has forgotten that the police and the law are intended to protect the criminals from the direct wrath of the public. When the public bypasses it and goes hands on, the Left and their fellow criminals in office will be most unhappy, and deservedly so.

c w swanson said...

This is resolved in the next election. The Democratic Party will fracture into radical and somewhat less radical wings, and the voters will eject them from power. For a while then, the Republicans under Trump will govern, and during that time things will stabilize.