Rough and tumble, partisan politics have always been pointed. Cut throat campaigning and bruising elections are common; and passionate philosophical and policy debates are standard fare for American politics. So fierce competition in politics is expected and actually healthy. Political issues should be intensely deliberated, so ideas can be thoroughly vetted before implementation. Thereby our leaders hopefully come to the correct decision.
That political intensity has served America well for most of our history because political opponents maintained a modicum of mutual respect and while disagreements may have been stark, the assumption was always that all sides only wanted what is best for the nation. Both sides would monitor the ramifications and results of each decision, but they would move on to the next issue until it was time to revisit the new law or policy. This was called governing.
We seem to have lost any sense of collegiality. The parties are so inimical and so far apart compromise is virtually impossible. And even if we get new laws or policies, they barely ever get a chance because with passage comes an immediate judicial challenge. Nothing changes and no progress is ever made because every new initiative gets tied up in the courts. The people voice their concerns and desires through the legislative branch, but Congress has lost their power to the judiciary.
Even worse, it goes beyond ideological differences. Even if a new law is successful, the opposition will deny it and work feverishly to undermine any success. It’s not about governing; it’s about credit and political capital. Neither side can allow the other any victory. Everything is about gaining or regaining power; the people be damned. A loyal opposition is essential to a functioning republic, but it must be principled not purely pernicious.
This perpetual obstruction has now come to elections. Losers no longer concede; they declare the winner illegitimate and determine to deny the election results. Due to the Florida debacle in 2000, Democrats never considered George W. Bush a legitimate president. Due to the Russian hoax in 2016, Democrats are still trying to reverse that election by whatever means possible. The venom for President Trump is not because they disagree with him, but because he is an outsider and not a Democrat.
American collegiality has been supplanted by Russian collusion; and Russian collusion is very real, but not the way the media incessantly insists. Sharing affinity for socialism, Democrats have always been sympathetic to the Russians and the Russians arguably prefer the feckless foreign policy of Democrats, but Russia does nothing in the interests of supporting one over the other American political party. They are against all Americans regardless of party.
All major and some lesser nations meddle in the affairs and even elections of others. We do it too. President Obama made a tremendous overt effort to thwart the reelection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Russians certainly tried to manipulate the 2016 election. Their intent was not to pick a winner, but rather to disrupt our elections and destabilize the American political process. And boy, their minimal social media trolling was wildly successful; and it’s still working!
Mostly because it fit their purposes, Democrats swallowed the Russian ruse hook, line, and sinker. Russians sold fake bait on Trump to the Clinton Campaign which used it to have the Obama FBI and CIA “SPY” on the opposition, a completely un-American tactic. And then they planted the poison seed that Trump cheated with the Russians to steal the election, so the Democrats have been trying to steal it back ever since.
The Russians are laughing so hard they are choking on their vodka. Their insignificant efforts have paralyzed American politics for over two years. The Russian goal is simply to destabilize the United States and undermining the authority and legitimacy of the new administration is a home run. It worked not because the Russians are that good, but because we are that bad. They found perfectly willing patsies in morally bankrupt Democrats.
The Russian nonsense has been exposed several times, so their malicious designs should finally fail. But our politicians are so obsessed with power, they have forgotten we are all Americans. It will only end when the nefarious actors in the DNC, FBI, CIA, and DOJ receive American justice.
“But evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse as they deceive others and are themselves deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13
