Some years ago, a friend in Easton would often ask during weighty dinner conversations,” Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone just got along?” We would roll our eyes and think to ourselves:
“Is he crazy or sadly naïve, or maybe both?” We would then change the subject and segue into a non-controversial subject like religion or the economy.
Now, I wonder if the Democrats and Republicans in Congress could somehow do the people’s business, ignoring re-election momentarily, and focus in a non-partisan manner on an urgently needed economic stimulus bill, or a jobs-producing infrastructure bill.
I wonder if readers are now rolling their eyes and speculating that I must be living in fantasyland.
Compromise for the sake of constituents? This writer must be certifiably nutty. Contention is the name of the game. Attack, attack, attack…do not give in, or up.
Recently I spoke with a friend and longtime Republican about the future of the Grand Old Party. I asked if he thought that taking, not stopping political actions beneficial to the public could become a norm. Could catering to the extreme wings of each party cease—at least periodically—and be replaced by policies that might boost the economy and enhance employment?
This friend neither laughed nor scoffed at my notion. He listened politely. He said some of his friends and he had discussed a new direction for the GOP. They understood the problem. A solution, however, remains elusive.
The crunch is this: members of Congress are obsessed with re-election. Fundraising is of paramount importance. You raise money by feeding your supporters the red meat of shrill opposition to the other party’s proposals. You denigrate those who disagree with you.
Reasonableness doesn’t sell if you’re always running for re-election. So, how does the Age of Combat yield to an Age of Compromise, as was true (though not always) in days of yore?
Change for the better happens only if voters scream “Enough!” Genuine power belongs to the people who hire and fire their elected representatives. Simple, but true.
Politicians respond to the fear of losing, to polls that show what people think, what they want and don’t want, what keeps them up at night, and what they see as reasonable expectations.
Nearly 80 million Americans sought change in leadership at the White House. They overcame false accusations about fraudulent voting practices. They overcame fear of Covid. They stood in long lines.
They were determined to exercise their democratic franchise.
Job security, affordable health care and accessible education are critically important to our fellow citizens, wherever they live, work, play and pray. Are members of Congress listening?
Do they care?
I strongly suggest that accord, rather than partisan anger, is a reasonable expectation of our neighbors, friends, family, first responders and small business owners. Patience is running thin. Covid-induced isolation has reduced tolerance for inaction.
All of us are feeling a bit irritable. While awaiting a vaccine and a return to normalcy, we’d like to see political solutions that give people hope and confidence,
Back to my friend’s once-ridiculed question and plea: could we all just get along? While human relations at best are fraught and fragile, particularly in the political arena, I believe that periodic bouts of comity might benefit citizens yearning for actions and policies that improve their lives.
It’s time to substitute agreement and compromise for rancor and discord. It’s time to exchange conciliation for combat.
Every once in awhile, a Kumbaya moment might be refreshing—and good for the nation’s fiscal and physical health.
Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.
robert siegfried says
While Mr. Freedlandler’s wishful thinking is nice- it is unfortunately “wishful thinking”- not close to reality. The body politic in the United States is shaped today by Citizens United which means money rules politics not the will of the people- whether it be the monies of the super wealthy like the Koch family or the unlimited bundling of funds through the super pacs. Compromise cannot happen and indeed is not a realistic path. The capitalism , turned corrupt, that characterizes the U.S economy has infected the nation’s political process and machinations. There are two solutions to this unseemly environment: overturn the Citizens United decision to enable monies to eliminate monies as the controlling force in politics and through legislation implement social, economic and environmental programs that empower substantially the role of the federal government in U.S. society. A society that is driven by capital market forces becomes, as the U.S represents, a rigged casino where only those controlling the casino win.
Charles Zvirman says
While I don’t disagree with the sentiment nor know the year in which your friend posed that question, for me it is an immediate callback to Rodney Kings quote in an interview after his infamous 1992 beating ‘Cant we all just get along?’ Sadly my opinion in 2020 is a resounding no.
I always recall a striking piece in Time magazine 1994 that featured the headline / subhead ‘Mad As Hell. The GOPs Newt Gingrich has Perfected the politics of Anger’. I truly believe that was a defining moment in American politics and save a unifying crisis like 9-11, it has been the mainstay and go-to strategy of American politics; ramping up rhetoric and hate speak to a fever pitch, leaving us all too often to cast our vote for one we least hate.
As the old English proverb goes ‘success has many fathers, failure is an orphan’ so I am by no means laying blame on anyone or any party. I do think however therein lies the point; in a two party system, compromise is weakness. A or B, Left or Right. If however we can one day evolve into a multi party system, perhaps comprise and cooperation might just become a winning formula. ‘Might’ of course being the operative word.
“I’d rather be an optimist and a fool than a pessimist and right”
Albert Einstein
Deirdre LaMotte says
When one Party’s Congressional Representatives in the House and Senate refuse to acknowledge Biden’s win out of fear of the a tragic base,we are in trouble. And when the “President” refuses to invite the President Elect and his spouse to the White House…what sets our nation apart from all others: peaceful transfer of power….we are doomed.
Where are you Margaret Chase Smith? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.