Divide and Rule

The following is nothing but personal opinion. No surprise there, everyone who reads this knows that I’m not a journalist. The problem these days is that so much for what many Americans take to be news is simply opinion with probably less factual basis than the tripe you find here. A study by The Heritage Foundation, an article in The Weekly Standard, or a broadcast on Fox News are simply opinion-editorial pieces bought and paid for by those with the most to gain from advancing those views.

The Republicans have certainly succeeded in doing one thing during these six years that they have controlled all three branches of government: They have divided the country evenly and bitterly in two. Probably not since the Civil War has there been such an ideological chasm between Americans. Of course, Democrats but surely take some of the blame for this split, but the game plan of the Democrats hasn’t relied on demonizing their opponents.

It is apparent that Democrats represent a greater threat to America than Al Qaeda if you believe the conservative spin. Take a quick look at conservative book titles currently in the news:

The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11
Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism
Godless: The Church of Liberalism
Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism
Bankrupt: Why the Democrats are the party of moral and intellectual bankruptcy

It isn’t enough that conservatives have controlled the legislature, executive, and judicial branches of government since Bush’s election in 2000, they also seem intent on demonizing the minority party.

There doesn’t seem to be a single environmental regulation that conservatives can accept. Anyone who believes that we should be doing more to protect the environment is called an eco-terrorist, an environmental whacko, or at least anti-business. Most conservatives mock anything to do with global warming at a time when almost every reputable scientists agrees that we are adversely changing the world’s climate. In spite of the fact that there is almost a complete scientific consensus on the matter, conservatives continue to label global warming a hoax and a myth—so much for the conservative notion of erring on the side of caution. The conservative stance on the environment not only flies in the face of an almost complete scientific consensus, it completely disregards common sense. I have a hard time finding a downside to using less fossil fuel, building more mass transit, and developing alternative energy sources like solar power.

Evolution, a cornerstone of biology, is another target of conservative mockery. In their effort to cater to the religious right, Republicans desperately try to portray evolution as if its basis is somehow controversial. The president says that the jury is still out on evolution which is a clever way of not denying the validity of some of the greatest achievements in science since Darwin, while still holding hands with the religious wing of the party that seems to be so threatened by these advances.

Republicans seem unable and unwilling to acknowledge that their views do not represent those of the entire American populace. There seems to be little room for compromise or accommodation in their platform.

Their “You’re either with us or against us” stance is never more evident than their approach to the war in Iraq. They say that if the Democrats have their way Iraq will devolve into chaos. My question to them is how will we tell the difference from the Iraq that they have created? 105 U.S. soldiers died in October, the fourth deadliest month since the invasion. Things are predicted to get even worse if we follow Bush’s master plan—whatever the hell that is. With the way things are going in Iraq, most Americans have said that they are against the president. Bush’s record in Iraq is worse than A-Rod’s batting average in the playoffs. It’s time to make a trade.