Rescue experiment
To the Arkansas delegation: I thank you for your thoughtful calls, but I really don’t want any more calls from your offices. I have grave concerns about where the Republican Party is headed. I just took the Pew poll on where I stand in the political arena and find that the result for me was a stressful sideliner. I think that is pretty accurate.
In order to serve our constituency, we need two honest and viable parties, putting into office representatives who are willing to work for the good of the people. Because the functions in our political system are extremely complex, we need these representatives to be leaders, not followers. And we need compromise products that should emanate from both parties working together for the good of our country. At present we have one party reaching overboard and one party failing to even participate. When the leaders of either proclaim that the goal is to make the other party a failure, the real losers are the people.
At present we are dealing with a crisis of misinformation. How can the people trust the government when the members of the government don’t even trust each other? No wonder people are polarized. I would tell you that our representatives are not leading, but that would be inaccurate. They are leading, just not in a positive way. And what will be the result? More events like Jan. 6? More like Charlottesville?
More members of each party coming on our news outlets denigrating the members of the other party?
Members saying they are afraid of the supporters of the other party? Office holders requiring security details to even go about their jobs? States passing legislation in an effort to assure a candidate getting a minority of the votes can claim the election? At this point, even the supposedly impartial media has taken sides. What a mess!
We have been in this sad place before in our history and somehow survived. One can only hope somewhere, somehow, a group of strong, viable, honest “leaders” will surface to rescue this great experiment in democracy.
JANE THOMAS
Garfield