In his Farewell Address in 1796, after serving as our first president for eight years, George Washington admonished those who were conniving to establish political parties or associations.
He warned of “the spirit of party” and said it “serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.
How prescient was the Father of our country!
Breaking down that 36-word observation we can see clearly the political and, hence, the governmental stalemate our country faces today.
The party serves to distract the public councils by establishing rules of thought to be adhered to without waver. Independent thought served our country well as the founders chose independence and freedom over the royal rulers of England.
President Washington, learned man that he was, was well aware of the disruption to governance that the Whigs and the Tories had established in England in the late 1600s.
He saw political parties as a prescription to “enfeeble” the public administration.
Noah Webster, in his American Dictionary of the English Language published in 1828 told us “enfeeble” was a verb transitive meaning to “deprive of strength; to reduce the strength or force of; to weaken; to debilitate; to enervate.” As examples Webster gave “Intemperance enfeebles the body, and induces premature infirmity. Excessive grief and melancholy enfeeble the mind. Long wars enfeeble a state.”
The current stalemate in which the Republicans and Democrats have our government mired is a great example of a long war that has enfeebled our government.
The two-party system today, as Washington predicted, “agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms.” The gridlock we are in, with our government partially shut down is the unimpeachable evidence of ill-founded jealousies and false alarms.
If Washington could speak to us from his Mount Vernon grave, he would be sternly telling is, “I told you so!”
Deranged Jealousies…
Trump Derangement Syndrome is rooted in ill-founded jealousies. The fact that the American people twice have chosen Donald Trump to be our president has the Democrat Party in such a box and it only can pull the handle on the false alarm bells.
The angst from both sides, as our first president said, “kindles the animosity of one part against the other.”
The long observed comity in the U.S. Senate, where respect for one another was always expected in pronouncement and in debate, has degenerated to malicious name calling and threats.
Prophetically, Washington foretold such animosity “foments (instigates, causes) occasionally riot and insurrection.”
Oh, haven’t we witnessed enough riot and insurrection over the past nine years to bring us all to our knees to pray for Devine intervention as the first best, but often the last, resort?
But Wait, There’s More…
In another paragraph in his address of Sept. 17, 1796, Washington said these unheeded words of caution:
"However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
Who knew we would elect cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men (and some women, too)? President Washington knew.
Some Democrats and some Republicans must step away from being dominated by party and begin to represent the wishes of their constituents — all of their constituents, not just the ones wearing the blue or the red jerseys.
Our founding fathers revered independent thought. The current party leaders want none of that. Stubborn leadership is bad leadership. Surely there are some things that the red team and the blue team can agree on.
We send representatives to Washington D.C. to make our government work, not to shut it down. How did that simple thought get lost on these pillars of patriotism.
Tiresome Politics…
This ‘if I can’t get my way we’ll shut this country down” tantrum is getting old, very old. Some important government workers are having to work without pay, and as a result they are doing an even worse job for the American people. Citizens’ freedom to travel is now being made very, very difficult by its own government’s failure to do its job. All of this affects the economy and the morale of the people.
There are consequences for losing elections. The losing party used to suck it up and vow to win the next one, and they kept the government operating.
Now, the out-of-power Democrats are doing everything they know of to block the duly-elected president, using tactics that often makes the minority more powerful than the majority. When a single federal judge can handcuff a sitting president at every turn, that is not a democracy, which the Democrats were so afraid of losing if Trump was re-elected.
Actually, when they said another Trump presidency would be the end of democracy in our country, what they really must have been meaning was that they would see to it that democracy would no longer work here. And they are succeeding.
Time to Pay Attention…
Again, the mid-term elections this year are the most consequential in the history of our country. Do not take them lightly. If we are going to be able to keep our Republic, we need people working for us, not against us. We need some real adults to step up and put forth the ideas that will move us forward.
Maybe we need to take a walk on the wild side and elect some real independents — not the Bernie Sanders type — but some who could vote for the right ideas, no matter which side proposes them. Not the Rand Paul type who seems to go against the grain just to needle his party’s leaders.
It’s My Party…
As we’ve said before, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., may be as close as we come to a real independent, who is independent for the right reason — to do what he thinks is best for the country.
That’s why the Democrats, usually in solid lockstep, are furious with Fetterman.
We are reminded of the 1963 hit song by 16-year-old Lesley Gore. “It’s My Party” was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100l
The iconic lyrics describe a teenage girl’s heartbreak at a birthday party where her boyfriend, Johnny (only a coincidence) leaves the party with another girl.
“It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to. You would cry too if it happened to you.”
The first verse goes like this:
“Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone
Judy left the same time
Why was he holding her hand
When he’s supposed to be mine?”
Yep, the Democrats have caught Johnny Fetterman holding hands with someone else — the Republicans — on the Iran conflict and on keeping the government open. They want to primary him.
The second verse could tell of the Democrat’s woe. It ends with:
“Til Johnny’s dancing with me I’ve got no reason to smile.”
But the third verse is the Democrat’s greatest fear:
“Judy and Johnny just walked through the door
Like a queen with her King
Oh, what a birthday surprise
Judy’s wearin’ his ring”
Fetterman says he not going all the way to the Republicans’ arms, but who knows?
Here’s Leslie Gore for your listening enjoyment:
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The Merriam Webster dictionary today has nine synonyms for "enfeeble"- no need to list them as you have hinted at them in your piece today. The antonyms are: Strengthen, Energize, and Invigorate. Does that sound like Trump? You bet. Mr. 5- cup here
"If we are going to be able to keep our Republic, we need people working for us, not against us." I have intentionally taken your quote out of context - your intention appeared to be to rally the electorate, but I think the quote also underscores the basic problem we have in our country today. THEY, the politicians, work for US. WE, don't work for THEM. The erosion of civility between the political parties in America seems very "protectionist." We elect them to do OUR bidding, THEY quickly forget that and create their own fiefdoms, and the next thing you know they are protecting THEIR power at the electorate's expense. Much of this would go away if only DOJ would convict those committing fraud with OUR dollars, and throw them in jail. And guess what, I believe we would once again see civility between the parties.