In a skit that was part Emily Littella, part Game of Thrones, the President of the United States gave his annual State of the Union address last week, and we saw exactly what state we are in.
As Mrs. Littella would say, “What’s all this fuss I hear about a union?”
Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, doesn’t matter. It’s like schoolyard sports: whoever has the ball gets to make the rules. But instead of playing the game, the opposing team yells, “I don’t like you anymore!” and runs home and tells their constituents that the other guys were mean to them.
While this is a simplistic form of analogy, there’s nothing simple or even amusing about the state of this country. In fact, I would call this current zeitgeist downright dangerous.
If nothing else, we’re on a frightening teeter-totter, moving back and forth between ideologies and policies that put all of us at risk.
The most egregious of this was the display last week by the Democrats, who would not stand for anything — not the medals being given to worthy recipients, not the women grieving for family members lost in horrendous crimes, but most importantly, not even for the call from the president about protecting American citizens ahead of illegal aliens.
Standing wasn’t the only protest, as quite a few elected officials abrogated their responsibilities and didn’t attend the event.
It shows the mindset of the current minority party — since Trump said it, we are automatically against it, damn the consequences. If you haven’t figured it out, we, our “republic,” our way of life are all in the crosshairs of those consequences.
When American values and Americans themselves have become inconsequential to the people elected to protect them — you know, against all enemies foreign and domestic — then the government is broken. To my mind, it’s been broken to the point of no return, infected with partisanship that has even trickled down to Americans.
Neither side plans to give an inch in their beliefs, things that may or may not align with constituents. When that pendulum swings, the roles will reverse, and nothing will get done, lives will not improve, and the only thing that will remain constant is taxes and rancor.
So I propose that one or more of the fellers that were elected to the halls of government introduce a bill that changes the State of the Union to the State of the Country as Seen by the Latest Bunch of Jerks that are In Charge.
While all of that is going on, 14 more states need to sign on to a Convention of States, so the people — as in We the People — can course correct this miserable situation. It’s become clear that the people we have elected to represent us can no longer make effective change, and more over, do not want to.
Tony Farkas is editor of the San Jacinto News-Times and the Trinity County News-Standard. He can be reached at tony@polkcountypublishing.com.
