GUILDED HORSE FEATHERS

When times seem throttled by events we do not comprehend, many of us tend to bury ourselves in other pursuits or distractions, going merrily upon our accustomed way. This is no way to be preparing our nation for the greatest threats our nation has ever faced. With technological advancements and merging global economies contributing to a matrix of diabolical consequences should one or several key dominoes begin to fail, the West must look clearly into the mist, and critically sort out the real from the imagined. This is no time for childhood or beauty queen fantasies.

The Left is adept at pretending that the "right-wing" in America is practically the same as the "right-wing" in Europe. But they are entirely different.

Author and historian Garry Wills has made the point that the right in America is anti-monarchical, anti-authoritarian in its root and on its extreme is almost anarchistic. The libertarian views are reflective of that. The right in America can really be traced to 1776. The right-wing in Europe is rooted in monarchy and is authoritarian".

Of course, when the right wing becomes part and parcel the corner of authoritarian voices, it begins to share in common more with the increasingly totalitarian Left, those soldiers of political correctness, whose aim to speak with a single "righteous" voice pits them against those rugged individualists who consider themselves quite capable of discernment over issues which influence or exert control over their own lives, and choose to voice dissention within the context of those times, or even from among all times, in the spirit of 1776, from a position that a strict constitutionalist of the hard right might favor.

On the other hand, the promise that same rugged and even somewhat radical individual may exhibit strong tendencies for empathy and compassion while choosing to think and act locally in most cases, is often a good ally to those liberals who seek redress of grievances against the harsh realities brought upon the many or the few by this or that specific heavy handed policy or measure of the Right. And the converse is true, as well. Liberalism oftens tags itself as the party of progressive thinking. Frankly, quite often, runaway liberalism is nothing but regressive and transgressive activity masquerading as humane policy.

Today's political parties offer no hope of elbow room for such an individualist. The political soup is poisoned and polarizing. When rights become set aside privileges in a twinkling of a cobra's eye by political gerrymandering whether done in the name of the Left or the name of the Right, something has gone wrong in the process. Of course the historical record shows that politics has never been a walk in the park. Today's political climate, while steamy, is not especially free of precedent or parallels. Intense struggle is always the norm; thus, the rippling blood and guts of political life has usually cautioned all but the worst provacateurs and the liliest of Pollyannas from entering political life.

As someone who was once elected to serve 26,000 Washington residents, as the ANC chairperson, I know first hand what a load of horse feathers the political game inspires in its captors. The suspicions of the electorate are usually valid while the maxims of the pundits tend to be greatly exaggerated, no matter what point is currently being postulated. One of our founding lights, Tom Paine, rightly walked away from the political arena after refusing the powered wig in vogue at the founding of this new republic, the beacon of hope for the world, as he once wrote.

Unfortunately, America still accepts and arrogantly touts that description of itself while playing an entirely different game on the world landscape today. Yes, times do change, but times have always been dangerous. Particularly in times of war, and in times preparing nations for total war.

It's still a smoke and mirrors game. Each side withholds evidence while arguing extreme positions. Despite past differences and pigheadeness on many a life or death issue, we the people have managed to stake our children and grandchildren proudly into the future, generation after generation. And for this we should not feel ashamed but healthy and thankful. But strategies for global survival seem particularly dangerous in these specific times. Indeed, as in the times of Dickens, these are the best of times and the worst of times. Every glance beneath the sheen of favor and status is observed a crumbling, rotting, core. Infrastructure of every kind is aging, superficial, and woefully neglected as the focus of Western life has shifted in great numbers to the mad rush of this constitutionally guaranteed personal pursuits of happiness and grabbing for riches and leisure from top to bottom, seizing the nation like a deadly fever.

So let's be plain. A polarized population weakens the House of America, and our enemies are watching, mapping strategies, recruiting soldiers, counting the hours. Consent of the governed? In a fifty-fifty red state, blue state split? Hardly.