It is fairly clear, to anyone paying attention, that the people of the United States are currently suffering the political tyranny of the special interest minority. We arrive at this point not because the character of the nation has changed dramatically – we are still a center-right nation ideologically, although we have become more permissive in our social views – but because we have fallen prey to exactly the political malady James Madison feared we would: factionalism.
This factionalism exists within both political parties, as well as throughout our society.
Neo-Marxists have come to power in the Democrat Party even though the majority of Democrats could be considered moderate to centrist. And because of the hierarchical system utilized by our federal Legislative Branch, this minority faction of the Democrat Party has come to power nationally.
The far right faction of the Republican Party, through their insistence on employing single issue litmus tests for candidates, has factionalized the party and helped facilitate its fall from prominence. Couple this limitation with the horrific performance and fiscal irresponsibility of the most recent Republican run Congress and the party's demise is understandable.
And the country has been factionalized societally – some use the term Balkanized – through the institutionalization of diversity, multiculturalism and the abandonment of the national conceptualization of e pluribus unum; out of many, one. Instead of celebrating the hybrid identity that is American and standing as one people in support and defense of a singular culture we have become a country of hyphenated Americans all too willing to put our individual and special interest needs ahead of honest politics, good government and Americanism.
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Frank Salvato also serves as the managing editor for The New Media Journal. His writing has been recognized by the US House International Relations Committee and the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention.
