Irreconcilable differences

America has reached a stage it hasn’t seen since the mid-1800s when the winds of war began to blow along the Mason-Dixon Line. While Barack Obama was elected with a clear majority of the voters, many erroneously believed that the candidate who campaigned from the left would govern from the centre. Many who voted for Obama are now surprised that his actual governance is to the left of his campaign rhetoric.

---

The so-called Tea Parties that were held in hundreds of cities across America on tax day are a reflection of what large numbers of common people without partisan agendas believe about their country; namely that the government has grown too large, program spending is too high, as also are taxes. And traditional incentives to better one’s self are rapidly disappearing. Obama has spent the first 100 days of his administration flirting with America’s enemies and apologizing for American “arrogance” to most of the world. His core message seems to be that America and Americans were a wicked, immoral people until he was elected and that under his leadership the country would now get it right. While his core supporters from the left applaud the president’s “courageous” stand, there is a large body of the population that does not. Mr. Obama’s latest flip-flop on whether or not to prosecute officials from the previous administration has created a nightmare scenario for Americans. If Bush Administration officials are prosecuted for their policies by the Obama administration, it will establish a precedent that will greatly discourage anyone from working for subsequent administrations in any capacity, much less in the area of national security. The idea that one should prosecute and imprison one’s predecessors is one that originates in Third-world basket cases, such as Zimbabwe, Nigeria or Kenya and is inconsistent with American values. But it also illustrates the extreme and irreconcilable differences that currently divide America. For the governor of a state to posit that state’s possible secession from the union, as did Texas Governor Rick Perry on April 15th is a strong indication of just how deep the chasm that divides Americans has become. While clueless politicians in Washington attempt to feather their own nests at the expense of the citizenry, the nation is literally falling apart with hardened attitudes evident on both sides of the spectrum. While I have never believed that America was likely to disintegrate, I am beginning to see conditions develop that could lead to a complete dissolution of what once was deemed an “indivisible” nation. What’s more, this new president, instead of attempting to unify Americans, is actually speeding up the disintegration process by creating rifts among citizens through the creation of class hatred, the disavowal of a terrorist threat, enacting policies that favor organized labor over small business, refusing to secure the nation’s southern border and attempting to cozy up to those who do not wish America well. If it wasn’t so far-fetched, one can almost believe that Mr. Obama could have a hidden agenda; one whose outcome was not in America’s best interest and that the disintegration of America as we know it is a part of his administration’s master plan.