Letter to the Editor: Stakes never higher
BY Robert Boshuizen, Broken Arrow
Thursday, September 06, 2012
9/06/12 at 3:32 AM
As I watch the political debate, seeing the rancor, accusations and blaming, I wonder: Are we still American first and foremost, then aligned to a political party? When you mention a party affiliation you no longer have a voice, your beliefs are neatly summed up and any further expression of what you believe is muffled by the label.
We are well versed (or should be) on the state of social programs. We are frustrated with the complexity of our tax system, the failings of our education system and worried what the future holds for our children and grandchildren. There is also an enormous influence of special interests, but even more so, our own interests. Yes, we want things "fixed," but are we willing to give up some of our own "special interests?"
I think of the image of when a family needed a barn raised, the whole community came together and built it. That is what we need as a country - not a Democrat or a Republican barn-raising, but an American barn-raising.
John Adams had a quote about two parties: There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.
Can we come together as one nation? It remains to be seen, but the stakes have never been higher.
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