George Rebane
President Trump’s State of the Union speech highlighted the roots of congressional dysfunction and confirmed that we are more polarized than ever in choosing our country’s future. The Democrats in the audience, in their multiple counter-speeches, and subsequently in the media have demonstrated that they have no intention of either celebrating benefits enjoyed by their constituencies or working with the Republicans to extend such benefits to broader cohorts of Americans.
Their focus is twofold – 1) maintain the belief that the formerly aggrieved classes are still aggrieved, and 2) retake Congress in November. And if this requires putting the Alinsky political protocols on steroids, so be it – lie at every turn, and loudly accuse the other side of having committed your own iniquities. As examples we see the Left’s leadership chorus broadcast to one and all that 2017 was the worst year in decades for Americans, and that 86 million of us will now pay higher taxes than before while all the benefits go to corporations and the rich who will do nothing with their ill-gotten gains to help America’s middle and poorer families. In short, as tens of millions of us are keeping more of our earnings, as our employers are giving us raises and bonuses, corporations are bringing back overseas stashes of cash, businesses are building new facilities and creating new jobs by the tens of thousands, … all of this is denied by the Left who tell our uninformed neighbors that exactly the opposite is happening under Trump.
That we are polarized is now accepted even by the elites of the Left who confirm their epiphanies regularly on talk shows and their op-eds. The only population segments remaining that refuse to accept the evident reality are local leftwing loonies scattered around the country. Their alt-left message is still that the country is overwhelmingly in support of liberal cum socialist policies, and that only isolated pockets of ignorant, old, and out-of-touch rightwingers hold on to the notion that our country is deeply divided. And in these backwoods, those (of us) who are anti-collectivist and point out that the Left does not speak for all Americans, we are accused of everything from being stupid to treasonous.
Now that cry of treason has been elevated to the highest levels in Washington where there has been a concerted witch hunt going on to hang that label on the conduct of our duly elected president and his team who are accused of stealing the 2016 election with Russia’s aid. That there is no evidence to support this makes no never mind to the disciples of Alinsky. They live and thrive on the votes of the half that pays no attention or has no ability to do so.
The post-SOTUS chasm that divides us has gotten noticeably wider.
[3feb18 update] Admittedly President Trump took a victory lap about the economy during his SCOTUS. The Dems were quick to respond that he was taking credit for the residual tailwind still blowing from Obama's brilliant performance with our economy (you recall, that's the one that saw the slowest recovery from a recession since WW2). Well here's a little stat that was reported tonight on the results of the latest WSJ/NBC poll – 57% of Democrats (gasp!) approve of President Trump's handling of the economy. In his eight years at the helm, Obama never achieved such a high atta boy. When prepping for the 2018 elections, this should make Chuckie and Nancy change out their Depends.
