When I was a child, Republican Dwight Eisenhower was
president and Congress had Democratic majorities. Democrats called themselves
“the loyal opposition” and while there were ideological differences, the
country’s business continued.
Kennedy and then Johnson then became presidents, and while
both elections against Nixon and Goldwater were rather hostile, the nation
healed and continued the country’s business.
Nixon was a great president, and had a lot of support until
he was forced to resign and his appointed vice president, Gerald Ford, took
over the reins. And somehow, despite having a president who was not elected on
a national ticket, the nation continued its business. And this kept going on:
through Carter, Regan, and others. But along the course of America’s story,
something happened. People began to hate.
I suppose it got out of hand when Bill Clinton was
impeached. There was much rancor. It seemed as if some Republicans wanted to
get back for the abuses of Nixon. Yes, Clinton was a sexual predator in many
respects (though I think it was all between consenting adults), but to impeach
him because he lied about getting a BJ from an intern doesn’t exactly strike me
as treasonous.
But there was rage when Bill beat the rap. And it was at the
Clintons – both of them.
We went through the Bush presidencies, and exercised our
rights to not give George H.W. a second term. But the gloves really came off
with George W. Frankly, I don’t
blame people. George W. was simply incompetent. Clinton left him a massive
surplus and he insisted on returning it to the people. That’s OK, but to do so,
he actually borrowed money – from China, no less. He led us into a war with
Iraq without any proof they were behind 9-11 and somehow managed to deregulate
us into the second-worst economic crisis in our history.
And along came Obama – a (gasp!) Black man with a vision for
change. And he did make a change in our health care system. And the country’s
rage, fueled by billions from our insurance premium dollars, again emerged. And so did the Tea
Party.
I watched with concern the emergence of this movement. It was packed with birthers, birchers, militias,
and white supremacists. But unknown to most of us, it was backed by huge
donations from people like the Koch brothers.
Suddenly, long time conservative Republicans were ousted by
Tea Party candidates in primaries and these new candidates had a “never compromise”
attitude. Politics is sometimes called “the art of compromise.” It needs to
happen for the nation’s business to continue. But for the last six years we
have been in a stalemate. While most notably, Obama’s Supreme Court nominee has
been blocked for strictly political reasons, there have been hundreds of
appointments to lower federal courts also blocked. This leaves us in a judicial
morass. Court calendars have been clogged beyond manageability. It is one small
example of failure to get Constitutional guarantees such as the right to a
speedy trial. Civil cases can go on unresolved for years. Insurance companies
can refuse to pay for life saving treatment that is apparently covered, and
keep the interest for years on amounts that will eventually be awarded to
plaintiffs.
And that’s just one example. We need to fix our highways.
Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania is an example. Lanes are constantly blocked for temporary repairs
throughout the state. We need to deal with the horrible results of our war on
terror. There is no congressional approval for the President’s efforts
recommended by our military. How many times has President Obama been forced to use executive orders when Congress refuses to act? We need to stop the stealing of digital information,
yet Wickileaks seems to be backing the GOP by leaking Democrat e-mail. I ask
you, how different is this action from Watergate?
Now of course, the supporters of Donald Trump are not going to
accept simple things like facts. These people are blindly following a path that
won’t listen to facts. But you know what? There were others who supported very
liberal candidates like McGovern or McCarthy. They even had a name – the
counterculture – that consisted of a whole lot of hippies and others.
And the nation recovered from these people. But Trump has
said something that is untrue. The election is rigged. It isn’t and Trump knows
it. At this point, Trump is going to lose. And it is obvious he is not going to
be a gracious loser. He is simply going to be a loser.
Throughout history, losing candidates have given concession speeches urging people to support the winner of the election. For the good of the nation, Trump has to deliver a helluva concession, including saying Hillary won "fair and square." and deny that the election was rigged. He must graciously point out that the people have spoken before thanking those who supported him. Can he do it? I just don't see it happening, and it could tear apart the nation.
His followers, mainly those of the “no compromise,” Tea
Party mentality, will not accept that the majority of Americans oppose what
Trump stands for. And I ask myself, are we seeing the maturation of the
“disloyal opposition?” I hear many quote Jefferson: “The tree of liberty must
be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Will
the followers of Trump, who consider themselves patriots, become the tyrants?
I am grateful that I am approaching 70 years of age and
might not live through the upcoming chaos. But I can inevitably see that my
children’s eyes might witness a chaos that will make them look back to the
simpler times of their childhood, when Americas was a democracy.
