Where Is "Our" President? genre: Polispeak & Six Degrees of Speculation
Can we please have a President for all of America? I'm serious because I would really like to feel like this is "our" country being led by "our" President. I just don't get the need for one group to tell the other group how to live...is one side so bad that the other side must savage the others freedoms in order to be happy…or impose one set of beliefs that all must follow? Whatever happened to our willingness to live together...not despite our differences...but in celebration of our differences bathed in our unique ability to extend equality to all because it's not simply what we believe...but what we live?
Logically, where can this divide lead except to more conflict and ultimately to attempts by one side or the other to criminalize the lives of the other? Honestly, where does it end...what will be enough? I like to start with looking at the extremes. Should we intern gays? Some actually believe we should put them to death. Trust me on this...before that will ever happen...both sides will suffer the sorrow of removing their dead from the streets. No that's not meant to be a threat...it's a reality. If that isn't the reality, then the alternative is equally horrific...people are actually executed without resistance. If some are allowed to continue to pursue this escalation of extreme rhetoric, then rhetoric will become reality and this country will never again be the same.
Should we make the Constitution secondary to the Bible? Should we put the non-believers to death? Some actually believe we should. Trust me on his...before that will ever happen...both sides will suffer the sorrow of removing their dead from the streets. Again, that's not meant to be a threat...it's the logical consequence of fanatical ideology...look no further than Iraq...that country in which we are attempting to introduce Democracy so they can live together and cease the sectarian violence that has it's origin in religious doctrine...can you see the similarities?
Should we also consider the internment or execution of Arabs and illegal immigrants and women who have abortions and doctors who support the terminally ill in ending their lives and judges who rule in opposition to our beliefs and reporters who expose lies and deceit and those who speak out in opposition to the policies of their government and those who burn the flag? Where does it end? The more we define ourselves by our intolerance, the sooner we will move towards the need to eliminate large swaths of society. Those who are intent on bringing a new order are on the precipice of bringing chaos and disorder. Today's dogma will soon be tomorrow’s demise.
We used to be a country of yes and can do's...but we are fast becoming a country of no and don't do's. It can never succeed...it will never succeed...it will in fact destroy us and our way of life. So long as we only have politicians who “say" they believe in something in order to lead…instead of politicians who want to lead because they actually “believe" in something…we will flounder along with focus group figureheads. Unless a leader steps forward to heal all of America, the wounds on both sides will widen such that we run the risk of draining what precious lifeblood remains.
We aren’t going to make it if fifty percent of the population lives with the belief that, unless their Party regains power during the next election cycle, their way of life is doomed. The politics of division may win elections but the price is steep. There is great irony in hearing some say that “exporting Democracy is a good thing…freedom is on the march." I worry that in our zeal to export this thing we call Democracy, we may soon wake up to find that our own supply has vanished.
Daniel DiRito | April 25, 2006 | 2:46 PM
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