We All Need Inspiration

Facebook reminded me today of a post I made two years ago.  I posted the closing words of the State of the Union address, which are copied below.  

"As the world bears witness tonight, America is a land of heroes. This is the place where greatness is born, where destinies are forged, and where legends come to life. This is the home of Thomas Edison and Teddy Roosevelt, of many great Generals, including Washington, Pershing, Patton, and MacArthur. This is the home of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Harriet Tubman, the Wright Brothers, Neil Armstrong, and so many more. This is the country where children learn names like Wyatt Earp, Davy Crockett, and Annie Oakley. This is the place where the pilgrims landed at Plymouth and where Texas patriots made their last stand at the Alamo.

The American Nation was carved out of the vast frontier by the toughest, strongest, fiercest, and most determined men and women ever to walk the face of the Earth. Our ancestors braved the unknown; tamed the wilderness; settled the Wild West; lifted millions from poverty, disease, and hunger; vanquished tyranny and fascism; ushered the world to new heights of science and medicine; laid down the railroads, dug out canals, raised up the skyscrapers — and, ladies and gentlemen, our ancestors built the most exceptional Republic ever to exist in all of human history. And we are making it greater than ever before!

This is our glorious and magnificent inheritance.

We are Americans. We are the pioneers. We are the pathfinders. We settled the new world, we built the modern world, and we changed history forever by embracing the eternal truth that everyone is made equal by the hand of Almighty God.

America is the place where anything can happen! America is the place where anyone can rise. And here, on this land, on this soil, on this continent, the most incredible dreams come true!

This Nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece. We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made. The American Age, the American Epic, the American Adventure, has only just begun!

Our spirit is still young; the sun is still rising; God’s grace is still shining; and my fellow Americans, the best is yet to come!

Thank you. God Bless You. God Bless America."

I have no illusions that Trump wrote these words but whoever did was really on his or her game.  I remember being uplifted.  I remember thinking that maybe we really could get beyond our divisions.  I hoped that his words would be matched by his actions.  But alas, it was not to be.  We all know what happened at the election and the shameful and sordid actions of his followers on Jan 6.  I've said in this blog many times that I would have voted guilty at his impeachment trial.  It seemed pretty clear to me.  

Now we are a year later and things seem worse.  My view is that the current crowd in power are a disaster.  They are a disaster in every facet of governing.  The other side doesn't see it that way, but that just shows how deep our divisions are.  I couldn't ever conceive of supporting Trump after his actions after the election because I thought he was genuinely deranged.  And I fervently hope that a more mainline Republican can overcome the Trump phenomenon that continues.  But as time goes on I'm not so sure.  

So I find myself in a quandary.  Would I ever support him again?  Against the current crowd I would have no choice.  I hope that as the next few years unfold, someone on the right will emerge who can stand up to the dangerous looney right and seize the party to run a solid campaign that will appeal to the vast majority of moderates like me in the middle.  And also that someone on the left will emerge who can stand up to the dangerous radical left and seize the party to run a solid campaign that will have wider appeal.  But I'm not optimistic.  

The thing fighting against that is the inviolate truth that money rules politics.  I saw a fascinating article on Axios this morning on the making of the modern Republican.  You can read it here.  This is the tale of money in the Republican world but it's the same on the other side.  It's discouraging and disappointing but not surprising.  The average voter can't do a thing about it and is increasingly just along for the ride.  

I'm an optimist in most things but increasingly I'm pessimistic about the state of our national political life and the worsening discourse amongst our citizens.  To be an optimist, you have to see a potential positive way ahead.  But I don't know what that is.