It has been no secret to the American public that the practice of politics has taken a turn for the worse. Compromise and negotiation, once deemed indispensible attributes for those who’ve taken the oath of public office, are now, and have been for some time, viewed in a pejorative light as well as an indication of weakness.
Symbiosis amongst the two opposing parties is and has been deteriorating since the later part of the 1970s. A palpable manifestation of the blatant obstinacy — one party more so than the other — is the less than covert. Media conglomerates, such as Fox News and MSNBC possess no qualms of espousing their political party’s ideology. Consequently, due to the lack of impartiality portrayed in the news, adherents of either party further entrench their already myopic outlook therefore cultivating sullenness toward the opposing party.
A recent article in Esquire, “Aliens in Their Own Nation” written by Mark Warren, attempts to validate the Democratic Party’s consternation toward alleged obstinate Republicans. Warren alludes to the insidious extinction of the more centripetal conservatives, haplessly having to relinquish any moderate beliefs if they ambitioned to obtain a berth in public service as a member and nominee of the Republican Party.
A poll that was distributed by the G.O.P. in the late 1970s has been deemed the incentive for the astounding narrow-mindedness that contemporary Republicans continue to exude.
The aforementioned poll, much to the chagrin of the Republican Party, implied a shift in demographic trends — The American populous was “increasingly identifying with the Democratic party’s legislative platform across a full array of issues.” Leaders of the Republican Party realized something drastic would have to be executed if they were going to continue augmenting their base.
As a result of the polling data, instead of prompting novel governing strategies, the G.O.P. decided it was more advantageous to hone the dark art of insult. As a consequence, Warren surmises: “The party’s constituencies began ascribing repugnant motives to people who in saner times would merely have been political opponents.”
Thus, politics made the seemingly indelible change from civil to combative campaigning tactics. Critics of contemporary politics have coined the Republican’s brainchild as the “politics of personal destruction.” Therefore, this has placed a heavier berth on the candidate as opposed to the disparate ideologies of the two-party system.
Political and ideological divisiveness in today’s culture parallels the political climate of the Civil War era. Now, I fully realize that I’ve assigned a surplus of blame upon conservatives for an exceedingly polarized political climate and I have no intention of impeding on anyone’s political beliefs. I merely am expressing my dissatisfaction as to why only a scarceness of legislation, in dire times mind you, has the potential of actually getting passed.
Moreover, by the time a proposed bill has been passed, the tainted bill hardly bares any semblance to the original. My exasperation with the Republican Party stems from supported facts, as opposed to fabrication, hyperbole and prevarication, which incidentally is more than I can say for the likes of Michele Bachman and company.
In appreciation of Warren’s journalistic research, I’ll conclude with some food for thought. Warren states, “A poll conducted last spring found that 20 percent of Republicans believe Obama could be the actual Antichrist.” Need I say more?
