The election of year of 2020 is over: like it or not, Donald Trump lost, Joe Biden won. And, fingers crossed, the COVID pandemic seems to be on the verge of ending as well. The vaccines are proving to be incredibly effective. Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, even the much maligned Astra-Zeneca: all seem to have seventy percent or higher prevention rates. And even more, the scientific data shows that they are all almost 100% effective at avoiding hospitalization and death from COVID. Those two things dividing us, election and disease, seem done.
Sources
Yet the Nation seems as divided as ever. As soon as one “crisis” is resolved, another arises to “fuel” our divisions. And the chief “Fire Feeder” is old news now – FOX News. Here’s the top news stories from the FOX News app on my IPhone Sunday morning.
- – Trump calls for boycotts of “woke” companies over Georgia (election) law
- – His Cheatin’ Heart – There’s a reason why Cuomo’s ex moved far away
- – Hunter Biden reveals moment he began sleeping with brother’s widow
- – Pulling the Trigger – Another state allows you to carry handguns without permit
- – Trump’s appeal to Latino voters may have been more widespread than originally reported
- – AOC is a ‘noise box’ who introduced 21 bills that went nowhere.
And here’s the Washington Post’s top stories – just for contrast:
- – How Joe Biden tamed left, at least for now
- – Inside a stealth “persuasion machine” – promising GOP victories in 2022
- – Latest Capitol attack reignites debate over security
- – After three recent deadly gun rampages, US survivors and experts fear what comes next
- – Inside the “Teen Vogue” mess -which is really a Conde Nast mess.
Missing Issues
The Capitol was attacked again Friday. One police officer killed and another wounded. The vaccines are working, but there’s still concern about genetic variants. The real issue in our future: how to regulate the intersection between vaccination and activity. Should vaccination be required to go to a concert, or to school, or church or work?
And what are today’s other “real news” stories, on this Easter Sunday?
Well, both Fox and the Post had stories about the Pope delivering Easter Mass with a mask on. And neither is discussing Myanmar – where protestors of the military coup are holding an “Easter Egg strike”. That might sound “cute” – but those protestors are demonstrating immense courage in the face of military might.
Siloed
We had a wonderful Easter dinner last night. And we had great discussions (perhaps fueled by the wine). We navigated police assaults, the Second Amendment, and even the legalization of drugs. Who would think that our ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans and spice cake cupcake dinner would “founder” on voter identification?
As a nation we are “siloed”. One set of new sources reflect one set of political views, another one reflects the opposite. I can read or listen to whatever news sources reinforce my political beliefs. And those who still believe that the 2020 election was stolen, and that Donald Trump really won, can listen to theirs.
Give Me Unity
Joe Biden called for “unity” upon his inauguration – but, to paraphrase a lesser known part of Patrick Henry’s Liberty or Death speech:
“There is no unity. The ‘war’ has never stopped. The next ‘gale’ that sweeps from Washington will bring to our ears the clash of resounding and continuing conflict. Our ideological brethren remain in the field”.
(A brief side bar: I once stood in the restored Virginia House of Burgesses in Williamsburg. Somehow, we had the place to ourselves – and I rose up and delivered the last parts of Henry’s actual speech. It was definitely a “goosebumps” moment for this history buff).
Sure there are always differences in political views. The Republicans of the past would have opposed a $1.9 trillion relief package, even though they had no problem supporting a $1 trillion dollar tax cut, mostly for corporations and the wealthy. And “old day” Republicans would also oppose the $2 trillion Biden infra-structure proposal. But both of those legislative initiatives were negotiable in the past. The Republicans of the “old days” would have gotten some cuts, and earned some money for their own priorities.
No Deal
But this isn’t an era where compromise and “deals” are acceptable. Our current political climate is driven by the “silos”, where only total fealty to the partisan line, backed by media confirmation of “their view” as true, is acceptable. Our nation is one based on compromises. Some were good, like the Great Compromise between the small states and the larger ones at the Constitutional Convention. And some bad, like the Three-Fifths Compromise at the same Convention, granting the Southern states more political power by counting their “owned people” as “three-fifths persons” for the purpose of representation and taxation (but not voting).
But our current climate on both sides does not allow for compromise: ask the “Joes”, Biden and Manchin. We are “siloed” in our political views. The last paragraph of Patrick Henry’s oration is this:
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it Almighty God! I know not what choice others may make, but as for me: Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death.”
Henry saw no compromise possible with England: only Liberty or Death. America of 2021 should not be in that situation of binary alternatives. But we are acting as if we are. And the driving force of that reaction: we are continually reinforced that there can be no middle ground.
Climb out of the silo. Take a look at some different views. It’s the only way to govern.
They aren’t always wrong, and you aren’t always right.
