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Not for me, it isn’t. I’m not a Trump fanatic or an isolationist. But every time a politician talks about unity, then acts in a non-unified way — like Biden does — it just makes me pull back more and more.
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-new-york-d6904990d776af784dd9f8c727ef19ff
My neighbor hangs his American flag upside down. He’s dispirited, says he doesn’t recognize this country any more. I doubt even another 9/11 attack would bring us together.
And apparently, we’re bad at keeping Americans alive.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/why-is-america-so-bad-at-keeping-people-alive/ar-AAOmdgN
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It never has been, if that matters.
I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness - yeah, and a little looking out for the other fella, too.
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Demtards started this sh*t, they’ve got to ride the rap. All of sudden they are pro military, all about saving Afghan children while they support abortion on demand and open borders during a pandemic, and mandatory vaxing?F em all and feed em fish heads, commie rat bastards all..
“I remember that one fateful day when Coach took me aside. I knew what was coming. "You don't have to tell me," I said. "I'm off the team, aren't I?" "Well," said Coach, "you never were really ON the team. You made that uniform you're wearing out of rags and towels, and your helmet is a toy space helmet. You show up at practice and then either steal the ball and make us chase you to get it back, or you try to tackle people at inappropriate times." It was all true what he was saying. And yet, I
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I’m w/ GR. We’ve been a hot mess since our founding, we just don’t want to admit it.
For every person who pines for the 50’s there’s someone who reminds us of the Red Scare and Brown v. BOE Topeka.
You want the 60’s? I give you vietnam. Wait, no that was the Democrats.
How about the 70’s? More Vietnam (the Republican flavor), stagflation and the rise of Japan.
80’s were great? I offer you conflicting views of the arms race, Iran, Beirut, etc.
What about the 90’s? Criminal justice reform, welfare reform, the contract with America, and the first politician in America I ever personally heard called a fascist (Gingrich).
I don’t need to go beyond that. We’ve always been a mix of points of view. Some of them are toxic, some of them rational and reasonable. None of them ever were owned by one side of the political spectrum.
Unity doesn’t mean believing the same things, it means believing we can work as a country despite our differences. On that I’m less sure today than 10 years ago, and it’s only because of one thing: The balkanization of information sources. We have gone from espousing generally American values to cowering in our little corners of hate. That hurts us and our politicians relish it because it makes us tractable. See Covid as a prime example.
I keep this board going because I believe that occasionally we get people to come at issues from all sides. GR’s now infrequent drive bys are an example of that, and healthy for us.
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Sic transit gloria mundi (so shut up and get back to work) -
Oh yes, the old “guns” bogey man as explanation for deaths in the US. Always starts and stops with guns.
The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes increased from 0.93% in 1958 to 7.40% in
2015. In 2015, 23.4 million people had diagnosed diabetes, compared to only 1.6 million in 1958.How about starting by attacking obesity? Obesity across the board is up almost 50%, and chronic obesity has doubled. Americans overeat because we always have food available. Without portion control and an addiction for fructose corn syrup sweetener, obesity is taking a toll on all age groups.
In the meantime, pass me a doughnut.
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Seems to me that Steven Bryer’s weekend comments on court packing are timely for this discussion.
I think there have been significant changes during my lifetime that have made our government institutions less effective. Structures included in the design of our institutions that made policy change more gradual and purposeful, more subject to consensus, have been altered over time.
And while the “minority party” has warned vociferously about the risk of the proposed changes, the majority party has pressed forward, irrespective of which party was in the majority. Politicians, knowing the risks, have prostituted our institutions. And as Breyer pointed out, all while playing an obviously zero sum game.
How can you put the genie back in the lamp? Which party will voluntarily disarm? I don’t see it. And that’s a pity.
Here's a toast with one last pour, may it last forever and a minute more;
Good fortune seems to you have sung, to live and love way past long -
[quote quote=5298]Maybe not since the 60’s. I’d say we were unified in WWII, the Depression, the 1950s, WWI, and earlier.[/quote]
That’s likely just airbrushed memory. Lots of political division existed in each of those times. Even during WWII there were significant forces resisting the war effort. We just don’t hear about them much because success has many fathers but failure is an orphan.
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Sic transit gloria mundi (so shut up and get back to work)
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