Our pugilistic president does not speak for us

When I was six, I broke with the Republicanism of my parents and sided with Adlai Stevenson. But I never became such a party loyalist that I failed to appreciate upright, reasonable and progressive Republicans, nor did I fail to see occasional racists, chauvinists and babblers within the Democratic party. Fringe elements persist in both parties. Generally speaking, I believe we are strongest when we work from the Center, when we seek common ground, when we cooperate, collaborate, compromise and converse together, when civility underlies our political discourse. As a nation, we move forward in fits and starts. We careen from one side to the other. Yet there seems to be a self-correcting mechanism within our political discourse, and a moral gyroscope deep within our collective psyche. It keeps us on course, more or less, as we follow the polestar: "E Pluribus Unum" - From Many, One. Even when power changes hands and priorities shift, there has been a common effort to reach for a larger moral balance. 

But the gyroscope is broken, or nearly so, and the dangers to our country are large. We cannot count on our President to lead us or speak for us; we must work around him with care and vigilance to maintain a degree of decency in public life. He does not see this polestar, or embrace this journey. He and so many within his "base", his party, and the so-called "donor class" have introduced an astonishing level of cynicism, selfishness and vulgarity into the public square. Indeed, for him it is not a public square at all, but a WWE wrestling ring where there are only winners and losers, trash talking and intimidation, hucksterism and media attention. Where he used to throw sucker punches and body slams, now he tweets - with similar intent and effect. 

I, for one, believe that America is better - greater - than this. Though we have many flaws, and have committed egregious sins, and still have much to overcome, we are on a journey toward wholeness and inclusion. As long as he behaves the way he is behaving, our pugilistic president is not us. He does not represent us. He does not speak for us. and so every day we the people must recommit ourselves to the true dream of America, "E Pluribus Unum". From many, one. One nation, under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All. 

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(I found the graphic on a blog, "Deeper Writing - and Reading - of the World" by Robin Holland, who co-directs the Columbus Area Writing Project [CAWP], affiliated with the National Writing Project.)