It Has Come Down to This

I was watching the news coverage of the President’s visit to the UK this morning.  I was tuned into Fox News.  The two Fox personalities who headline the morning news had three guests with them for comments while viewing the President’s pomp and circumstance activities in England (a visit to, I believe, Westminster Abbey).  One thing that you must say about the British…they’ve got this pomp and circumstance thing down.  And it must also be noted that America could never have a more beautiful and dignified first lady than Melania Trump. 

What struck me and prompted me to post this note are the remarks of one of the three Fox guests, Mary Anne Marsh.  Marsh is a popular Democratic political analyst who appears on Fox quite frequently as one of the “opposing view” commentators.  She has always seemed to be an intelligent and fairly objective political observer.  She is a Democrat and her comments and views reflect a Democratic perspective.  But I have generally found her to be capable of non-partisan objectivity on occasion and capable of rendering apolitical comments when the opportunity presents itself, while staying true to her Democratic principles.

This morning, Marsh was downright snarky in her comments regarding the President.  In a purely ceremonial event that was being featured on the camera, she could not resist highlighting Trump’s support of the Brexit movement and the political upheaval it is creating in England.  She repeatedly framed the President as being isolationist and anti-alliance in regards to our English and European allies (NATO, EU).  Just as the media does in America, she ignored the fact that the people in England had gone to the polls in a national referendum and voted FOR Brexit.  Additionally, the British have recently gone to the polls and issued a significant setback to the anti-Brexit factions in Parliament while boosting those factions that support Brexit.  Instead, she repeatedly implied that, based on polling, the English public was opposed to Brexit and wanted to vote on it again.  This sentiment is remarkably similar to the attitude many Democrats hold towards the 2016 Presidential election. 

It seemed she was seeking every opportunity available to insert some type of negativity towards President Trump; even when it seemed oddly inappropriate and awkward.  In the past, I have typically enjoyed the comments of Marsh and her ability to present substantive opposing points of policy discussion without being overtly partisan and narrow-minded.  But this morning, while viewing a presentation that clearly put the President in a positive and honorable light, she simply could not bring herself to say one complimentary, positive thing about him or his wife.  Apparently, it was a mountain too high for her to climb.

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It is disappointing to see the chasm between the Republicans and the Democrats becoming wider and wider.  The reasonably moderate people on either side of the aisle are being pulled closer and closer to the gaping hole and their precarious positions within their own parties are being reflected in their increasingly partisan commentary.  The Democrat Marsh, and those like her in the Republican Party, are being programmed into the hardcore positions of either HateTrump or LoveTrump.  There is very little middle ground left between the two major parties of our nation. This moment in time, in a situation where it was so easy to rise above the political and simply address the honor and prestige of our nation’s Presidency, seems to reflect so well how polarized our Parties have become.   One wonders if, and when, our leaders will come to their senses and find some common ground for the benefit of the people.  Some musings on where we are…and where we should be…

What it is….

If you spit on me, I will spit on you.

You slur my name…I can do that too.

You want to escalate, I will reciprocate…Until one of us terminates.

I don’t need your reason, you need my tone.

Me try to convince you?  You are mine to own.

Cute trumps substance, style trumps truth.

Life is too short to be burdened down by proof.

The win’s all that matters; the game is just the game.

Logic and reason take too much air, just say my name.

You beat me, I’ll be back.  If you win, I will attack.

Domination for me is perfect victory intact.

On the other hand….

If you spit on me, I might stop to think.

You invade my space; I can shift in a wink.

You want to raise the temp, I can let you vent…until your hate is spent. 

Can you repent?

I will hear your words and they might make me pause.

Perhaps outside of mine there is some other cause?

Your facts are revealing and your tone makes some sense.

There might be room in the middle where the level’s not so tense.

We’ve got to live here together, share the earth and the air.

There’s plenty for all if we can both dare to care.

If you’re certain you are right, I can try it your way.  How’s that sound?

Just remember that the next time…It all comes around.

At the end of the day….

Not to be naïve or foolishly optimistic…

And I’ll take great pains to avoid being cryptic.

The bottom line is that something has to give if things are going to continue.

This kind of gridlock will lead us nowhere…and cause misery too.

So whoever wins the Executive after the upcoming joust. 

Whoever has the numbers to command the Senate and the House.

They might get their way and set the rules as they like.

They might govern like kings and put their opponents on a pike.

But if they continue in this fashion, it’s no pathway to favor.

Their reign will be short and leave little to savor.

The fruits of the win and the thrills of the ride…

Will lead them to error, fraught with arrogance and pride.

They’ll fall from the heights and plummet to the depths.

Becoming victims of their own devices into which they leapt.

They will leave the throne humbled, turned out by the folks.

And the government will cycle onward, like an ironically bad joke.