Mark West
Unified at home
By Mark West
"To restore...harmony...to render us again one people acting as one nation should be the object of every man really a patriot."—Thomas Jefferson
Media pundits and journalists have spent a majority of the two weeks since President Bush was reelected in an amusing display of distracting chatter in a futile effort at predicting what he will do domestically in his second term. However, I believe their exhibition is more inclined toward influencing the President's agenda than toward actually expressing prescience about what he will actually attempt to do in his second term.
The President announced that he will be spending his political "capital" focusing on tax reform, while fixing social security and health care. In the mix President Bush will be forced to address the trade deficit that looms threateningly on the horizon.
I will join the mix of "advisors" to the President this week as I vainly attempt to influence his policy myself. As our President looks to the future, my hope is that he will do such with an eye to the lessons of the past. Particularly to an observation we have from the presidency of Thomas Jefferson.
President Thomas Jefferson developed a political rivalry of sorts with President John Adams. Adams had won the presidency without winning the popular vote. His opponent was Jefferson! In the next election the two faced off again with Jefferson securing an outright victory. They were divided by their diverging viewpoints on how the nation should be properly governed and remained that way for many years.
In spite of their difference of opinion they came together and became close friends, even sharing the same day of death...July 4th. Why did these two men place such great importance in being in concert even though distinct in perspective? They knew how imminently dangerous the enemy outside of our borders was. Of necessity, America needed to be incessantly devoted to unity as one, independent nation in the world. Any true patriot would yearn in his heart and burn in his bones to keep the nation unified. A noble goal for Bush's second term would be to work to promote national unity.
The last four elections have shown us to be a divided nation. As popular as the elite media may attempt to portray President Clinton to have been, the truth is that he never received 50 percent of the vote in a Presidential election. He received 43 percent in 1992 and 49 percent in 1996. President Bush garnered 48 percent of the vote in 2000 and 51 percent of the vote in 2004. Four straight elections have gone practically half and half.
What has us so divided? Perspective! We each bring a unique perspective to the political table. I believe that we all want what's best for America; we just disagree as to what exactly is best for America. Unfortunately, rather than having real debate about our differences we resort to inflammatory rhetoric and ridiculing slander in delusional attempts to discredit and defame each other. Understanding will not take shape in the current state of affairs in our country because we have become unwilling to listen because we are too busy talking. As the saying goes, we've got two ears and one mouth because we should listen twice as much as we talk!
I believe that President Bush can find some common ground that he and his opponents can come together on. Both camps realize that health care and education need fixing. These two items could prove to be a fertile neutral ground to being working together so that both sides can learn to cooperate for the common welfare of the nation.
Cooperation is key, but must be undertaken by both sides. Democrats will be unsuccessful in moving their agenda forward if they are unwilling to cooperate with the Republicans as they move theirs forward and vice versa. I believe it will boil down to conflict management. President Bush, and the Congress, would be wise to sit down and determine what differences between them are reconcilable and which are irreconcilable. Then they can go to work on the reconcilable differences in order to make some progress toward getting things accomplished for America.
Unity is essential for security and independence. True Patriots will make the effort necessary to keeping our nation unified and moving forward together.
© Mark West
"To restore...harmony...to render us again one people acting as one nation should be the object of every man really a patriot."
Media pundits and journalists have spent a majority of the two weeks since President Bush was reelected in an amusing display of distracting chatter in a futile effort at predicting what he will do domestically in his second term. However, I believe their exhibition is more inclined toward influencing the President's agenda than toward actually expressing prescience about what he will actually attempt to do in his second term.
The President announced that he will be spending his political "capital" focusing on tax reform, while fixing social security and health care. In the mix President Bush will be forced to address the trade deficit that looms threateningly on the horizon.
I will join the mix of "advisors" to the President this week as I vainly attempt to influence his policy myself. As our President looks to the future, my hope is that he will do such with an eye to the lessons of the past. Particularly to an observation we have from the presidency of Thomas Jefferson.
President Thomas Jefferson developed a political rivalry of sorts with President John Adams. Adams had won the presidency without winning the popular vote. His opponent was Jefferson! In the next election the two faced off again with Jefferson securing an outright victory. They were divided by their diverging viewpoints on how the nation should be properly governed and remained that way for many years.
In spite of their difference of opinion they came together and became close friends, even sharing the same day of death...July 4th. Why did these two men place such great importance in being in concert even though distinct in perspective? They knew how imminently dangerous the enemy outside of our borders was. Of necessity, America needed to be incessantly devoted to unity as one, independent nation in the world. Any true patriot would yearn in his heart and burn in his bones to keep the nation unified. A noble goal for Bush's second term would be to work to promote national unity.
The last four elections have shown us to be a divided nation. As popular as the elite media may attempt to portray President Clinton to have been, the truth is that he never received 50 percent of the vote in a Presidential election. He received 43 percent in 1992 and 49 percent in 1996. President Bush garnered 48 percent of the vote in 2000 and 51 percent of the vote in 2004. Four straight elections have gone practically half and half.
What has us so divided? Perspective! We each bring a unique perspective to the political table. I believe that we all want what's best for America; we just disagree as to what exactly is best for America. Unfortunately, rather than having real debate about our differences we resort to inflammatory rhetoric and ridiculing slander in delusional attempts to discredit and defame each other. Understanding will not take shape in the current state of affairs in our country because we have become unwilling to listen because we are too busy talking. As the saying goes, we've got two ears and one mouth because we should listen twice as much as we talk!
I believe that President Bush can find some common ground that he and his opponents can come together on. Both camps realize that health care and education need fixing. These two items could prove to be a fertile neutral ground to being working together so that both sides can learn to cooperate for the common welfare of the nation.
Cooperation is key, but must be undertaken by both sides. Democrats will be unsuccessful in moving their agenda forward if they are unwilling to cooperate with the Republicans as they move theirs forward and vice versa. I believe it will boil down to conflict management. President Bush, and the Congress, would be wise to sit down and determine what differences between them are reconcilable and which are irreconcilable. Then they can go to work on the reconcilable differences in order to make some progress toward getting things accomplished for America.
Unity is essential for security and independence. True Patriots will make the effort necessary to keeping our nation unified and moving forward together.
© Mark West
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