Throughout my school days, we were taught how America was the “melting pot”. Our country is completely made is up of immigrants from other countries. Even the “Native Americans” immigrated here over the land bridge from Russia thousands of years ago. It is this very make up of many different peoples that gives our country its strength.
No other country in World History has been as diverse as we, and it is that diversity that allowed our country to grow from a few scattered colonies to the greatest nation on Earth in only 200 years.
The first rule of warfare is to divide and conquer. Because we are such a diverse population, it is very difficult to find a single line that can divide us. And as long as we stay united, we cannot be defeated. Indeed, the lowest points in our history are those few times that something caused a major division in our country. The biggest, of course, was the issue of States Rights and Slavery, and that division led to the Civil War. A war that resulted in more casualties that all of our other wars combined. We faced another divide in the sixties over civil rights and the Vietnam War. That divide, of course, paled in comparison to the one a hundred years earlier, but it still threw our country into fifteen years of turmoil.
The only other nation that rivaled ours was the Soviet Union. For almost 50 years, it was the only other Super Power. But let’s not forget that we did not defeat the Soviet Union; they failed from within. They failed when their unity collapsed. And let’s not forget that collapse happened virtually overnight.
I am very concerned that several of the candidates running today, (specifically, Trump, Cruz, and Sanders) are leading us down another slippery slope of division. This division could easily become the greatest crisis facing our country today, for the only enemy who can ever truly defeat America is ourselves.
We need a leader that will unite our country; not divide it.
This attitude where the Republicans are against everything the Democrats stand for, and where the Democrats are against everything the Republicans stand for has got to stop.
Democrats blaming George W. Bush for all of the problems we face now is nonsense. George W. Bush is a good and decent man who lead our nation through its darkest hour in the past 60 years. His policies kept us safe after September 11. But he was wrong about the existence of WMD’s in Iraq. But being wrong does not mean he lied. We all believed that Iraq had WMD’s at that time. It turned out that we all were wrong. In hindsight, maybe the Iraq War was a mistake. Maybe not. Only time will tell.
Equally nonsensical is the Republicans going around saying Obama has destroyed America over the past seven years. Barrack Obama is also a good and decent man who is doing the best he can do in an impossible job; a job made even more difficult because the Republicans have opposed almost every single thing he has said or done, regardless of its merits. Even the Democrats supported W. on many of his issues. Our economy is in much better shape than it was seven years ago. Obamacare has allowed millions of people to obtain healthcare when they previously were unable to. On the other hand, I feel that his foreign policies have weakened our country.
As our first Black President, Obama was in a unique position to help heal the racial divide that has been present here for some many decades. Unfortunately, in this aspect, he has failed miserably. Racial relations are at their worst since the 60’s. Our police are being attacked. We all seem to have forgotten that, as President, Obama is not only Commander in Chief of the Military, he is also our country’s Top Cop. (Law Enforcement falls under the Executive department, and the President is head the Executive department.) While he has no direct control over state and local law enforcement agencies, examples of proper leadership would trickle down.
Because we are such a diverse nation, we will never elect a President who reflects all of our views. Hell, there is not a candidate running now that even reflects all of my own views, and I am just one person. I have not made a decision on who I would support. Every candidate has some ideas which I fully support, and every candidate has a taken a position on some topics which I fully oppose.
In the end, I will vote for the candidate, regardless of his or her party, that I feel has the strong leadership skills, the character, and the integrity, to best heal this growing division in our country today. And I pray that you will, too.
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