GUEST EDITORIAL: One nation, still quite divided

Editorials

November 21, 2009

Anonymous The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Sat Nov 21, 2009, 02:57 AM EST

Barack Obama won a sizable election victory one year ago, in large measure due to voters anxious to see the new president work to minimize division and distrust of government.

Well, let’s look at where we are a year later.

Democrats in Congress are pushing through a national health care plan that has split Americans down the middle, and it arrives on the heels of spending policies that, in themselves, make many Americans very nervous. If the health care plan is finally adopted and signed into law by Obama, only then will we begin to determine whether it was wise or misguided. But it has heightened the level of mistrust. Unless someone acts decisively to reset the public discourse, this poisoned atmosphere will extend to the next election cycle.

There is plenty of blame to sling. Surely, the president’s critics pinned the most unflattering of motives on the opposition in an effort to fuel the anger. They accused the president and his supporters of upending the Constitution, of turning our republic into a European-style socialist state. They resorted to name-calling, drowning out the thoughtful analysis that should have instead resonated in the voters’ minds. Soon enough, a gargantuan issue like health care became undebatable.

But in order to get health care moving through a widening divide, the other side too quickly abandoned engagement on the issues as their primary foil. Obama, himself, repeated platitudes that were long on promises but short on demonstrable facts. Caught off guard by the August protests, Obama and his Democratic party reacted in the same vein as their critics — with name-calling and vilification — widening the divide even further.

Obama brings a palpable irony to this equation. His predecesor, George W. Bush, was seen as a divider, not a uniter, because he staked out positions contrary to half the country and doggedly stuck to them while simultaneously failing to articulate his vision. This president sees himself as the anti-Bush, yet it’s ironic that the national mood remains split, only this time along different fault lines.

Presidents need to be magnanimous. Little more than a year ago, Obama asked us to make him president largely on his ability to unite a divided country. OK, Mr. President, perhaps it’s time for another charm offensive — not just overseas, but at home.

The president’s previous attempts at seeking common ground have fallen on deaf ears. Some say Republicans won’t play ball; others say Obama and the Democrats only want cooperation when they get to call all the shots. The truth may lie somewhere in the middle. Let the president be the one to start the ball rolling again toward a saner direction.

— The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.

Text Only

Editorials

OUR VIEW: Time for Mongielo to face the music
Town of Lockport auto repair shop owner David Mongielo has gone over the line in his violation of a town sign ordinance.

January 2, 2012
OUR VIEW: At dawn of New Year, a call for civility
Each new year brings with it an inherent hopefulness in our own lives and the larger world around us, this one in particular — if only because it isn’t 2011.

January 2, 2012
Have a safe New Year's Eve
This isn’t the Prohibition era, and we’re not into moralizing about alcohol consumption.
We have no beef about adults having a few drinks on New Year’s Eve, as long as no one else gets hurt in the process. Your choice — hangover, no hangover. Check yes or no.
But, with one very important proviso: Don’t drink and drive.
And we’re very much against hosts of a New Year’s Eve party sending their guests out to their cars when their guests have overindulged. Especially when there are safe options to avoid behavior that risks your life and that of others you may encounter on the road.

December 31, 2011
The bus stops here
The NFTA’s proposed cuts to local bus routes have the potential to really hurt the little guy, the rider who relies on the bus to get to work, to shop, to get to the doctor’s.
It just shouldn’t happen.

December 28, 2011
OUR VIEW: Lockport taxpayers lose again
We find it highly inappropriate that the City of Lockport — via its development corporation — is again punishing taxpayers for renovations to 57 Canal St.

April 26, 2011
CHEERS & JEERS
We applaud Lockport Town Court and Judge Leonard G. Tilney Jr. for recusing themselves from the driving-while-intoxicated case against local attorney Daniel E. Seaman due to conflict of interest.

April 26, 2011
OUR VIEW: Recharge N.Y. is a plus for us
We’re encouraged that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s visit to Niagara County this week brings a new and improved version of the Power For Jobs program to our area.

April 21, 2011
CHEERS & JEERS: The US&J’s view on the best and worst of the week
April 21, 2011
OUR VIEW: Cleanup is up the creek
New York state had an Eighteenmile Creek cleanup within its grasp — and now it’s trying to change horses in mid-stream. And that could leave the cleanup effort up the creek without a paddle.

April 21, 2011
CHEERS & JEERS: The US&J’s view on the best and worst of the week
April 21, 2011
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

GUEST EDITORIAL: One nation, still quite divided

Site Map

Contact Us