“America swings like a pendulum do.”
Russ Vaughn
(with apologies to Roger Miller!)
Just to review a little recent history: Barack Obama was elected as President in 2008, which coupled with an impressive showing for Democrats in the 2006 mid term election caused the now all too familiar proclamations that the GOP was dead, that America was no longer a center right nation, that a new progressive era had risen. Then came 2010 and the Tea Party. Less proclaimed by the media, but it would seem from the election results that America had suddenly returned to its conservative roots. Republicans regained control of the House, and Democrats suddenly started embracing 2nd amendment rights, and shooting rifles at Obamacare on commercials. Fast forward to 2012 and GOP voters largely stayed home, disenchanted with the lackluster choice of Mitt Romney as a candidate, and arguably the worst President in recent history was comfortably reelected. So much for the Tea Party revolution. Then, a few months ago in the 2014 midterms, Republicans romped to victories pretty much everywhere there was a competitive election to be held with both establishment and non-establishment candidates. God bless our schizophrenic America! The pendulum swings, but only in two directions.
George Washington famously warned us of the dangers of political parties in his farewell address, and it is well worth the read to see what a prophet, or perhaps just man of understanding and student of history, he was. Washington saw the undue influence of political parties as an extension of sectionalism pitting group against group in the nation, destroying unity, and leading to just another form of tyranny, albeit temporary, whereby one group’s interests were entirely embraced, while another’s were essentially ignored:
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”
People joked about Barack Obama’s experience as a “community organizer”; but while this experience may not have qualified him to do the job as President, it is ironically exactly the experience that enabled him to win the elections. He is that “chief” that Washington warned us of. His ability to organize a group against another group with his “winner take all” political philosophy is perfectly expressed in his confrontational and conquering style of leadership, as opposed to the dedication to union and liberty that was exemplified by our first President.
Washington was not naive, and our current political landscape would not come as a surprise to him, though it would undoubtedly be a disappointment. He knew the nature of men, and that the “spirit of party” was a strong one, even as the spirit of tyranny is. His suggestion, and a good one, was that the formation of groups and parties being the natural tendency of men, and the culmination of that tendency being detrimental to liberty, that the devotion to political parties should be continually discouraged, shunned, and not enabled. That we will align ourselves with other likeminded individuals to promote our causes is a given, but when a name, a structure and an organization is given to that alliance the resultant “party” takes on a life of its own, and like all other forms of life, self-preservation becomes it’s strongest motivation. Principles, values, and ideas take a back seat to winning elections and sustaining the party.
People need no artificial delineations to create divisions with each other. There are very real disagreements over positions and policies, and always will be. One needs to question whether it is those differences that create the party platforms, or the platforms, and more specifically the affiliations that serve to create our differences. The lockstep that seems to occur within parties is astounding, especially among the representatives. Give a man a label, and you can pretty well predict how he will vote on almost every issue. Exceptions to this are increasingly rare, and the devotion to a political party seems to be not only exacerbating our divisions, they caricature our opponents, pigeon hole them, and create a chasm that cannot be bridged; a chasm not necessarily composed by the areas we disagree so much as by the “teams” we are on.
IMHO: The blue and the red that represent our warring political parties tellingly also represent the warring gangs of our inner cities, the Crips and the Bloods. As with these gangs, it is almost suicide for a young politician not to affiliate themselves with one of the “gangs” of Washington. Gangs might begin with noble motives, but division always brings death; life finds its beginnings and sustenance in union.
In 1754 Benjamin Franklin published a cartoon of a snake cut into several pieces, each piece labeled with the initials of one of the colonies. It included the caption, “JOIN, or DIE.”, which helped Franklin to illustrate the importance of colonial unity as he discussed it in the accompanying editorial. The image later became a symbol of colonial freedom during the Revolutionary War. It’s a simple message. Another President who understood the value of union put it this way,
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln echoed the words of Jesus found in three of the gospels, and pointed to the importance of Union not just in the birth of our nation, but in its continued existence. There were divisions then far beyond those we have now. There were divisions at our inception, and no extended history to form a bond. Divisions will always seek to drive us apart, but what was true for Lincoln, what was true for Franklin, is true for us today. We must seek to find leaders who can successfully represent all of us, not just a party. Eliminating parties is unrealistic, but diminishing their tyranny and influence is consistent with George Washington’s admonition. Our union must always overshadow our differences, for truly, a house divided will not stand. Think not that a nation can long sustain freedom and liberty through the strategy of divide and conquer. As it ever was in these United States; join, or die.
