"And the war came" is a phase from Lincoln's second inauguration
that looks back at his first, when there was still hope that the
differences between the confederacy and the country defined by the
federal constitution could be accommodated by both sides. My contention
is that we are at a similar place right now, with failure to foresee
the future consequences of war making such a tragedy probable. .
"War" and "politics" are usually different domains of our thinking and of public discussion. It is actually a continuum, something not realized until a transition between the two occurs. Opposing groups in the form of political parties are designed to allow their divergent interests and values to be negotiated short of actual combat, using a structured plebiscite to determine which shall prevail -- until another scheduled election will allow alteration or change in direction. Politics can be fun, a club that brings people together against a common enemy. It has this carnival quality, an intoxicating unifying institution -- that is until the music stops.
We may actually be closer now than even the prelude to the Civil War. The current President has articulated only somewhat less than an overt threat with words such as these: "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad."
The escalation of this saber rattling occurred recently from other side of the political divide from the presumptive Democratic candidate for the Presidency, Joseph Biden It was response to a question whether he would promise to "not pull a President Ford” by pardoning Trump “under the pretense of healing the nation.” Biden emphasizing his concurrence with, "Absolutely, yes. I commit.” In this response was a tacit assumption that he condemned the pardoning of President Nixon. This has not been the universal judgement of history, which is illustrated by the words in the of the 2001 Kennedy Center Profiles in Courage award.
Biden's firm statement is meaningful; as the question was an opportunity for him to define a direction for his administration that would have been a reversal of the calumny and hatred of the incumbent.. He could have responded without denying that his opponent deserves to be punished for his actions, for example, "This is a difficult subject, as the expectation of endless prosecution could energize Trump to foolishly try to prevent the constitutional transfer of power."
"War" and "politics" are usually different domains of our thinking and of public discussion. It is actually a continuum, something not realized until a transition between the two occurs. Opposing groups in the form of political parties are designed to allow their divergent interests and values to be negotiated short of actual combat, using a structured plebiscite to determine which shall prevail -- until another scheduled election will allow alteration or change in direction. Politics can be fun, a club that brings people together against a common enemy. It has this carnival quality, an intoxicating unifying institution -- that is until the music stops.
We may actually be closer now than even the prelude to the Civil War. The current President has articulated only somewhat less than an overt threat with words such as these: "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad."
The escalation of this saber rattling occurred recently from other side of the political divide from the presumptive Democratic candidate for the Presidency, Joseph Biden It was response to a question whether he would promise to "not pull a President Ford” by pardoning Trump “under the pretense of healing the nation.” Biden emphasizing his concurrence with, "Absolutely, yes. I commit.” In this response was a tacit assumption that he condemned the pardoning of President Nixon. This has not been the universal judgement of history, which is illustrated by the words in the of the 2001 Kennedy Center Profiles in Courage award.
Biden's firm statement is meaningful; as the question was an opportunity for him to define a direction for his administration that would have been a reversal of the calumny and hatred of the incumbent.. He could have responded without denying that his opponent deserves to be punished for his actions, for example, "This is a difficult subject, as the expectation of endless prosecution could energize Trump to foolishly try to prevent the constitutional transfer of power."
It would
have been bad enough if he had stopped with this vow not to pardon, but he
went further, and in doing so betrayed his lack of mastery of the structure
of the executive branch of our government. He continued with “It’s
hands-off completely. Look, the attorney general of the
United States is not the president’s lawyer. It’s the people’s lawyer.”
He is accurate in as far as traditionally once an attorney general is appointed there is a
high degree of autonomy in specific choice of cases. Yet, as in all
cabinet positions, it is the elected president who defines the board outlines of
policies.
The AG is the "peoples lawyer" only to the degree that he follows the
principles that are determined by the elected president.
Biden
may have been trying to convey that he would not turn the office into an arm of the partisan goals of the current president,
but in doing so he went too far, and worse, sacrificed the opportunity
to convey that he would be more changing who is dominant in the pathological hatred of one party of the other. Rather he signaled that he would unleash a tiger of an AG to destroy his predecessor , will not restrain how he goes about it.
The
lack of any media discussion of Biden's promise is further evidence
that the goal of healing has been all but completely replaced by stoking the hatred of one side towards the other.
No prominent Democrat has questioned his statement, so the full extent of the consequences of his promise have not been aired. Hatred of Trump is what unites Democrats to the degree that anything short of making him suffer for what he has done to the the country is blasphemy.. .
Biden is at a point that he could start to anticipate his presidency, where his major challenge must be to show the courage needed to heal the wounds that divide us. Anything less could lead to an unimaginable tragedy that must be avoided.
No prominent Democrat has questioned his statement, so the full extent of the consequences of his promise have not been aired. Hatred of Trump is what unites Democrats to the degree that anything short of making him suffer for what he has done to the the country is blasphemy.. .
Biden is at a point that he could start to anticipate his presidency, where his major challenge must be to show the courage needed to heal the wounds that divide us. Anything less could lead to an unimaginable tragedy that must be avoided.
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