GETTING ALONG

 I’d like to find new topics on which to write, but the country’s situation won’t allow me to do so. By now, we’ve inaugurated a new president, an old one has been sent back to public life, and all are looking to see what kind of leadership will be directing our handling of the pandemic and strangling economy. The job is a massive one that we all hope Joe Biden can handle. However, he’s not the only person who will be needed to dig us out of the mess.  

For as long as I can remember, the two parties in our political system have followed different paths. Over the years, they’ve swapped liberal-conservative characterizations. The divide between the two was wide, but something strange happened on many occasions. For the good of the country, Democrats and Republicans sometimes put country above self or party. They joined in bipartisanship to pass laws and acts to truly make America great.  

As early as 1945, Senator Arthur Vandenberg worked with Democrats and his own GOP cohorts to make sure the U.S. remained connected to the rest of the world. His leadership ensured that the country maintained vital roles in the United Nations and NATO. 

With the help of legendary Senator Everett DIrksen, GOP senators ended a filibuster, and 27 of them joined Democrats to pass Civil Rights legislation. That bill is one of the greatest in our history as it began to give black Americans some of the rights that others took for granted. A moral issue was solved with the help of both parties. 

The next year, the Great Society program was approved by both parties. Included in the program were the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Medicare, and Public Broadcasting. If not for bi-partisan work, programs that address poverty, education, and conservation, as well as others, would have been left wanting for years to come. 

During the impeachment hearings of Richard Nixon, GOP members became heroes to the country. Our own Senator Howard Baker asked the most famous question of the whole affair: What did you know and when did you know it? Together, both parties searched for the truth and forced Nixon to resign.  

Perhaps not since World War II did both parties join forces with no breaks in the ranks to fight attacks against the country as they did after the 9/11 attacks. A combination of patriotism and anger energized our leaders to complete things that would keep citizens safe.  

For far too long now, the two parties have moved increasingly toward polarization. Mitchell McConnell vowed to keep President Obama and Democrats from passing any legislation. GOP senators stalled the filling of a Supreme Court seat until Donald Trump became president. Democrats have refused to work in any way to promote even good programs suggested by the Trump administration. 

Perhaps the seditious acts of January 6 will bring a bit of bipartisanship to Congress. It seems that each day more individuals are disgusted with the events occurring on January 6. Representatives from both sides have condemned fellow legislators who helped the president and his mob.  

Maybe the beginning of the Biden presidency will usher in an era of bipartisanship. Biden worked across the aisle during his time in the Senate, and we can only hope that he can work the same magic during his term in office.  

As for us who elect those folks, it’s time we began to show some of the same bipartisanship. I might not agree with everything a person on the other side of an argument says, but I have to be willing to allow him to speak and to take as much common good from it as possible.  

We better pray that this country, its leaders and citizens, learn how to compromise. No one gets all he wants; give and take lead to meeting in the middle, and that is where good things occur. Otherwise, the U.S. can read its fate in the history of the Roman Empire.