Divisive Negativity

The extremely divided nature of the United States has been observable to many for the last couple of decades. Obviously, in one way or another, the United States of America has always been divided, whether between loyalists and revolutionaries, north and south, or over the Viet Nam war.

WE remember when Tip O'Neil and Ronald Reagan worked out their differences through deliberate compromise, without anger, rancor, or slander.

What is noticable about the current situation is that you hear people spending more time and effort attacking those with whom they disagree, rather than expousing the virtues of their own positions.

And that, fellow citizens, might be the essential feature of our modern discourse which makes it so divisive. Its been going on a long time. The Adams people, the Federalists, called Thomas Jefferosn an adulterer, which he may have been, but they didn't dwell on it endlessly. If you read the Lincoln Douglas debates, they both spend considerably more verbiage extolling their own ideals than deprecating the opponent's.

I keep waiting for Rush Limbaugh to sing the praises of conservatism, and to back it up with facts, rather than constantly attacking liberals. I've been waiting since 1994, and my wait may not soon be over.