Every week on Monday, the WoW! community and our invited guests weigh in at the WoW!Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question:
Can America Unite Again?
Stately McDaniel Manor: One of the favorite tricks of defense lawyers is the “anything’s possible” ploy. They get a witness, often a police officer, to admit the wildest, most improbable happenstances are at least possible, and juries sometimes buy it, letting their guilty-as-sin clients walk. The truth is, everything/anything is not possible. Monkeys will never fly from my posterior. A billion dollars will never fall from the sky and land, intact, at my feet. I will never be 25 again, and I will never become a Hollywood starlet. But for the purposes of this forum, I’ll play defense attorney and stipulate it is possible America might once again be united.
Now let’s get real and consider why it’s more likely that’s impossible.
It is possible for all Americans to be united, one people, if they are taught the importance of that philosophy and practice. If, having been taught it, they believe it, and are willing to make adjustments in their thinking, manner of living, and manner of speaking to practice it in their daily lives, the possibility of the term “American” meaning more than just “one born in or naturalized in America,” exists. This state of affairs can thrive only if being American is unique, special, worth fighting and dying for, worth defending in every way and at every level, and superior in every way to tribalism, religion, ideology and party. It’s possible only if liberty yet burns in American breasts.
For around half of the residents of the American continent, that is no longer true. It hasn’t been for many years, and the Age of Obama has all but ended the possibility of American unity. This has been the probable turning point of the progressive determination to fundamentally transform America in their deranged, tyrannical image.
They have had near complete success.
Progressives now own--in control over philosophy and curriculum--much of America’s public school system. They own much of the popular culture, and virtually all of the so-called publically funded, and not a little of the private, higher education systems. With a few notable exceptions, they also own the media. The permanent federal bureaucracy is theirs, and so too is most of the federal judiciary at all levels. They are one justice away from complete control of the Supreme Court.
Under Barack Obama, they succeeded in all but eliminating the separation of powers, and have rendered the Constitution essentially meaningless in significant ways. Their destruction of the rule of law, and the trust of the people in the rule of law and government in general has been considerable, but not yet absolute. Our allies despise and mistrust us and our deadly enemies laugh at and have no fear of us.
It has often been said that progressives, hating the American people, have always wanted to throw us out and elect another. They are close to accomplishing that goal, having thrown wide our national borders with no concern for who enters, excepting they be highly likely to vote for Democrats. In fact, Progressives are determined to import hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Muslims, people whose allegiance is to Islam, then their tribe, and perhaps somewhere, far, far down on the list, America. It is an inherent part of the Progressive project to seek “diversity,” which by definition must mean the end of American unity. Demanding that immigrants have useful skills or trades, the ability to be contributing members of society rather than become eternal drags on the public treasury, that they become proficient in English, that they adapt to American customs and laws, that they abandon barbaric practices like female genital mutilation and honor killing of female relatives, and they not be vicious drug users and/or criminals, is anathema to progressives who see such traditional expectations as nativist and intolerant or counter-diversity.
They admit hundreds, if not thousands, of immigrants will be terrorists. So what? What you gonna do about it Gun and God clinger?
The sheer numbers of non-assimilating foreigners have another, more important purpose for progressives: to make a permanent democrat voting majority, to ensure none but hand picked progressive candidates will ever hold the White House. It’s working. Even now, with hundreds of thousands per year pouring over our borders, Republicans have an uphill struggle for federal office. A level playing field disappeared decades ago.
But it is not only in immigration that progressives separate themselves from their fellow citizens. We are, do not forget, a huge basket of deplorables, God and gun clingers, haters of all not like us, and our betters have a duty to remake America into Venezuela, though that won’t happen because they are so smart every Marxist/socialist pipe dream will work--this time--for the first time in history.
And what of Congressional Republicans? Most are RINOs. They have the backbones of squid and the cohesive courage of turtles. Some make noises about the Constitution and the rule of law, but no matter how many houses of Congress they control, they accomplish virtually nothing and the inexorable Progressive march continues, leaving Americans to vote for people like John McCain in the vain hope having someone in office with an “R” after their name will be somehow hopeful. If Donald Trump wins and they control both houses of Congress, it’s highly doubtful they’ll be able to do so much as repeal Obamacare. If Hillary Clinton wins, and they still control both houses of Congress, they’ll do worse than they did under Barack Obama. Obama set the tone and tactics; Hillary will extend them and run wild. She has promised as much.
Will America once again be a united nation? With half--and growing--of the population determined that it not be so? With the federal courts ruling requiting proof of citizenship to vote is unconstitutional? But hey, anything’s possible, right?
Laura Rambeau Lee,
Right Reason : In my heart I firmly believe America can unite again. The divisions we see in America have not come from the people. Division is a weapon used by the political elites along with a complicit media and educational system to maintain power. It is a successful formula: Create an aggrieved group and an oppressor and then promise justice. The challenge is for we as Americans to come together as we have in the past to speak the truth and call out these liars and their lies.
We can be united by restoring the rule of law and making sure the laws are applied equally to all regardless of race, background or gender. We also must make English the official language in America. We cannot be united without sharing a common language. We spend too much time and money accommodating those who live here, even become citizens, who refuse to learn English. They can keep their mother tongue and speak it in their homes, but to get on in our society everyone must learn to read, write and communicate in English. We all come from different backgrounds and ethnicities. Many of us still embrace some of the customs from our ancestors whether religious or cultural. But we have united as Americans and understand that the precious freedoms we have here do not exist anywhere else in the world. Unfortunately we are at a point in our history where we can lose these freedoms if we allow our fundamental rights to be eroded and abolished.
The progressive agenda of multiculturalism must be challenged at every turn, particularly with our children who are being immersed and indoctrinated at very early ages. There is nothing wrong with instilling in our children the exceptional values and traditions of our American history and culture. In fact we should be doing more of this in our schools, explaining the foundational principles of individual rights and freedoms enshrined in our Constitution.
Americans can be united again but it will not happen if we remain silent and allow this divisiveness to continue. It really is up to we the people and I do believe there are more of us than those who seek to divide and destroy this great country.
JoshuaPundit: I think unity...or at least a resurgence of the amount of unity we had in say, the mid 20th century- is entirely possible.The Trump revolution and to a lesser degree the Bernie revolution might be contradictory in which end of the telescope they see things through, but their impetus is the same...a reaction against the self-appointed elites plundering and destroying our country. That's an incredibly hopeful sign, and an indication of how what we'll call the uniparty has misjudged how angry the peasants are. And I don't think the numbers are 50-50 when you come down to it,
and in some surprising areas.
The factors behind our present malaise are these:
Abysmal, corrupt leadership - The last three presidents are the worst in our history, and they were all two termers.
We're talking about a quarter century of decline that worked out just fine for the elites or those entrepreneurs smart enough to surf the waves and make money out of it, but rather poorly for the rest of us. The amount of blood and treasure squandered for no purpose except the enrichment of the few (Including those in positions of authority willing to do the bidding of a certain kingdom or two in the Middle East) is a chapter of national shame. It's inevitable that an orgy of this kind and the necessary disregard for our laws, heritage, and national morality would foster the kind of disrespect for those values not just among the ones benefiting themselves by ignoring them but among those of us who saw it happen without any consequences for the malefactors. Old Yiddish saying: '
A fisch rats fun de kop' (A fish rots from the head). True dat.
The decline of education and a free press - The unionization of America's school teachers and the penetration of those unions was a primary goal of the Comintern, the subversive organization the Soviets set up to promote their revolution world wide by infiltrating key western institutions. As David Horowitz chronicles in his memoir,
Radical Son, by the 1950's the teacher's unions in many large cities had been thoroughly penetrated by communists 'under party discipline.' This was one of the factors, along with the popularity in sections of academe of Franz Boa's ideas on deconstructionism (facts can be manipulated to fit your political ideology) were factors that contributed to what amounted to our own Cultural Revolution in the1960's. And of course, after the anti-war movement faded out once President Nixon ended the draft, many of the movement's radical leaders became tenured professors in our universities. Including in our journalism schools, where the example of Woodward and Bernstein's fame and fortune after Watergate gave rise to the normalization of 'advocacy journalism.'
The deliberate division of Americans into groups and the pitting them against each other - This has been divide and rule on steroids. While the Democrats with their emphasis on identity politics have been the most guilty, the Republicans have played their own part in this. It has encouraged people to think of themselves as members of a group with a label and a party rather than as Americans.
So, how do we fix it?
First, we have to realize that it
has to be fixed. The alternatives are either national disintegration via secession or our very own Julius Caesar and the end of our Republic.
Second, we have to realize that the decay has been working for some time, and it will take some time to fix it. And that fixing it may involve using some of the means involved in causing that decay in reverse.
We need leadership with courage, empathy, common sense and the knowledge of what it takes to get things done efficiently. The only candidate I see out there with those qualities is Donald Trump. He has one major drawback, that as an insurgent, he will be fought tooth and nail on any reforms by the members of the uniparty in congress, including some of those whom he defeated during the primaries unwilling to put aside their petty grievances for the good of the country. If that happens, a President Trump might need to use things like executive orders or leaning heavily on a GOP senate majority leader to invoke the nuclear option unless we, the People, rise up and let our representatives know in no uncertain terms that their jobs are on the line. As much as I hate the precedent being set, desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.
Education can be reformed, but it must be from the bottom up. Governor Scott Walker proved that the teacher's unions can be defeated, a necessary first step. The ideas of school choice and vouchers are also an excellent first step, as is abolishing Common Core and turning education back to the states. The problem is that many of these states embrace radical, leftist ideals and allowing them to control public education merely exacerbates the problem. A number of California's textbooks in these areas are to the left of Stalin. Far better to have a new, restaffed Federal Department of Education write up guidelines that mandate curriculum at least for history, civics and social studies along with federal approval of textbooks in those subjects to make sure they comply and have patriotic content that teaches America's greatness rather than the quasi-socialist drivel too many of them contain now. I hate like the plague using the feds for this, but there isn't any other way. And if we are going to contribute federal money to public schools, we may as well use that leverage.
Just as G-d saw to it the the Hebrews wandered in the desert for forty years to rid themselves of the slave mentality, we will need to play the long game to rid our children of indoctrination and allow a new generation to emerge with proper and patriotic values.
Federal encouragement of home schooling wouldn't be a bad idea either. And so would federally sponsored online degree programs that allow students to get a college education at a fraction of the cost and with none of the indoctrination factor of many of today's brick and mortar universities.
It is vitally important to end the divisive splitting of Americans into groups and encourage us again to think of ourselves as one nation. again, Donald Trump has been the only candidate to make a point of constantly mentioning this in his stump speeches.
And finally, nothing unites Americans like a common threat, or an attack like 9/11.The last time this happened, we had mediocre leadership with a strong personal interest in protecting the complicit guilty parties. If such a thing happens again, G-d forbid, and we have leadership actually willing to lead us instead of lying to us, it would be a strong and enduring unifying factor.
Well, there you have it.
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