By Loren Adams, 10 July 2011
America is scarred by a prominent fault-line. It’s been there since the nation’s birth. Geographically, it follows the Potomac and Ohio Rivers, tracks roughly the 32nd parallel, then drops to the Rio Grande east of New Mexico. Conversely, the great divide cannot be simplified as purely geographic, for it cuts through households in all 50 states. On the other hand, the Blue-Red state schism resembles the Blue-Gray split 150-years before. The Old Confederacy has risen again in the 21st, and you can see it clearly displayed on election night maps.
Yet it’s more complex. The divide is also apparent between religious bodies. Fundamentalist denominations are on one side; mainline denominations on the other. Traditional class warfare also plays a dynamic on the fault-line; the “have’s” (and those that identify with the rich ‘cause they want to be also) are principally on the red team while the “have-not’s” (and those that empathize with the poor and middle class) are on the blue.
At this time in U.S. history, the divide is widening again to dangerous levels, and there are several factors contributing: Political polarization, income disparity, unemployment, homelessness, unfair global trade agreements that re-sanction slave labor, the “dumbing-down” of society, corporate takeover of media and elections, and burgeoning religious movements identifying with the affluent in contradiction to original doctrine.
And at the heart of the great divide is the modern Republican Party. Its political operatives made a conscious decision three decades ago to win at any cost, including compromising traditional values that moderated our political system to civility and accepted standards of discourse. No longer is there a conscience to constrain; all tactics are on-the-table. As part of the conscious decision to include the unconscionable, the GOP has embraced deceit, fear, greed, and hate as part of its fabric. The composition is damaging to the nation as a whole, not just the party, and they care not. All that matters is objective; winning is the only thing that counts. The end justifies the means.
http://tpjmagazine.us/20110710adams