A number of years ago Dick
Gephardt spoke at a business association I belong to. Gephardt is a former House Majority Leader
and House Minority Leader, and has since retired from politics. I was never a huge fan of Gephardt’s, but I
remember his commentary that evening to be mild and nonpartisan and there were
a few things that he said that have stayed with me.
Probably the most important point
that he made was that he felt that what set the Western democracies apart was
that the losers always accept the outcome.
They may not like it, but they swallow hard and accept it. We have a little revolution every 2 or 4
years, resolve it at the ballot box, and that’s that until next time.
Tuesday’s State of the Union
address leads me to believe that this is no longer the case. It’s pretty clear that liberal Democrats
have not accepted the outcome of Trump’s election and that is very bad for our
democracy. Forget about whether you like
or do not like Trump. He is only one
branch of the government, and no matter what, in 33 months, the American voters
have another chance to toss him out of office and in 10 months have an
opportunity to change the complexion of Congress to either limit or affirm many
of his policies.
But there are basic courtesies
that we should extend to each other, successes that we have achieved and common
American values that are part of our culture that we should share.
Democrats would have none of
it. Ruth Bader Ginsburg wouldn’t even
show up to the State of the Union address at all. Her distaste is so bad, she won’t even give
Trump the courtesy of listening to what he has to say. No Democrat would greet him as he entered. Despite vast policy differences, Republicans
did not disrespect Obama in that fashion, even when he wagged his finger at the
Supreme Court. The body language and
facial expressions said it all.
Democrats sat grim faced and scowling the entire time. One congresswoman was even caught playing
Candy Crush Saga during Trump's speech.
As has become the tradition since
Reagan, Trump brought a number of real life people along to associate faces
with his policies—veterans, victims of MS-13, and most inspiring North Korean
defector Ji Seong-ho, who raised his crutches in defiance of the brutal North
Korean regime. The Democrats could not
bring themselves to stand for this man who courageously fought to gain his
freedom, nor could they stand to celebrate the lowest black unemployment rate
in history.
Courage, freedom and economic
progress (especially for minorities) are things that we should celebrate
together, no matter who is the putative commander in chief.
It was a disturbing display,
especially because Trump was, well, very presidential. I am not surprised that he performed
well. His speeches in Poland and in Saudi
Arabia last summer were visionary, and the State of the Union followed
suit. His speech was well received, and
he did remarkably well among independents in the post-speech polling.
Even worse than the behavior of
the Democrats at the State of the Union were some of the comments on social
media the next day when the Amtrak train carrying Republicans hit a truck,
killing the driver. Jonathan Tasini, a
commentator on CNN was almost gleeful.
Author Steven King tweeted out that the accident was “karma.” Celebrating potential physical harm to the
other side is only a short jump from actually committing it.
I read “Havel: A Life” a few
months ago. As you may recall, Vaclav
Havel became president of then Czechoslovakia after the Berlin Wall fell. He recognized that the country was hopelessly
divided and ungovernable. They were two
different peoples and two vastly different cultures and the country became increasingly
dysfunctional. With the Democratic
reaction at the State of the Union, the reaction from some on the left to the
Amtrak train accident, and the disclosure of politicizing the FBI to spy on
political opponents, we may be nearer a split than at any time since 1860.
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