George Rebane

[This commentary appeared here in the 5jun21 op-ed pages of The Union.  The response in the newspaper’s online edition comment stream was as predicted (by publisher Don Rogers among others), and I expand on this in the addendum below.]

In my last two Other Voices columns – ‘Farewell Unity’ (2apr21), ‘Where exactly are we going?’ (19apr21) – I apparently miscommunicated the outlined steps to reunify our politically polarized land.  Liberal readers misunderstood that I was inviting our neighbors of the Left to abandon their desiderata for a fundamentally transformed America, and simply adopt those that we of the Right embrace.  Nowhere did I make such a proposal.

My main point was and still is that we should not start on the road to reunification with the much ballyhooed, premature, and therefore misguided search for ‘common ground’.  As it continues to be demonstrated by calls from both sides, that approach has been a futile undertaking over the last few years.  I offered a three-step sequence toward reunification that must start with an heroic effort to meld elements of our distinct ideas for a future America into a compromised list of shared attributes for governance and social policies.

If we can successfully come up with such a collection of ideas, then that list of mutually acceptable and shared attributes will naturally give us the basis for a common ground from which to attempt the concluding step.  The recommended sequence is concluded by both sides joining in the effort to forge a unified format for America’s future, concurrently with the process by which such an envisioned America shall come to pass.  By this I mean that the outlined structure and the process to achieve it, must necessarily be put in place through, say, a productive give-and-take convention of the parties, so that both sides see the same end and also the means to achieve it as a feasible political enterprise to take place in the out years.

The nearby diagram attempts to convey this graphically.  In its examination, it’s important not to get hung up on the descriptions of each side’s currently desired America.  They are included here only to illustrate that it is these disputed objectives, as perceived by the other, that are the underlying causes for our polarization.  If such a reunification process is actually attempted by our Democrats and Republicans, then each will bring to the table their own descriptions of their desired America which will serve as a starting point.  Finally, even this approach does not guarantee success.  Nevertheless, if we cannot agree to work for a common America, then a Great Divide, achieved peacefully or through violence, is in our future.

[Addendum]  A quick perusal of The Union’s comment stream to this commentary reveals that the most recent tranche of liberal readers replicate the cognitive deficits exhibited by the readers of my two preceding columns that introduced a more productive process toward possible reunification than the one that starts with finding common ground which has been fruitlessly bandied around by politicians and in the national press.

Again, our liberals show they have no understanding of the direction Biden’s policies and the congressional Democrats are taking the country.  They vehemently deny that it is toward socialism, and some in turn accuse Republicans of promoting fascism as our future.  None of these worthies give a hint that they understand the definitions of either ideology.

I need to point out that predictably Steven Frisch, the local Left’s leading intellectual light, also made his appearance.  And a very disappointing effort it was.  He had no idea what to make of my column, instead he took the opportunity for what he thought would be another personal detraction that would confirm his followers’ rejection of my recommended approach.  His words –

Thought I would leave this little post by George from over at his blog here for people to consider as they think about his system for finding a “Unified Format for America’s Future”….”Over the last week or so, the evil party has done everything it could to divide us further and pander to their ultra-left faction and black constituents by hammering the centenary of the Tulsa massacre over every possible channel and at every possible event. After dredging up the terrible details of that riot of the whites, these were repeated ad nauseum over the days as it awakened and drew predictable expressions of rage from the Left and black leaders. Does anyone think that this kind “racial catharsis” has left us more united? ” –yep, George Rebane.

He was quoting from my intro to ‘Sandbox – 2jun21’ in which I took Biden and the country’s lamestream media to task for their obvious use of the Tulsa Massacre to further divide America.  And Frisch, again displaying his extremely limited knowledge of national dialogues, thinks that I am somehow again a misguided lonely and deranged voice in the wilderness.  He has no idea of the number of columnists and conservative academics who measured Biden to a similar standard.  My own opinion was closely matched by black academic Jason Riley of the Manhattan Institute from whose linked column I used his “racial catharsis” to characterize the reporting on the Tulsa centenary.

So yes, given this level of ignorance amplified vitriol, there is no indication that any rational approach to reunification will be accepted by the Left.

[13jun21 update]  The comment stream to this piece in the online Union has grown considerably, it now numbers above 150.  What I need to point out here is that no leftwing Union reader has yet to understand and critique the 3-step process to unification that I detail.  Almost all the comments are regurgitations of baseless ad hominems against me and RR.  The sad reflection on the hopelessness of starting a productive national dialogue on ANY issue is that the vituperations don’t even provide any specifics to substantiate their naked assessments and name-calling.  The apologetics to support contentions on this website are voluminous and rich with citations.  The Left’s demonstrated intellectual capacity appears not able to undertake a reasoned debate on any of it.  As a group, they are innocent of even the most basic definitions required to understand and engage.  This is USA in 2021.