Election-Post Two Days
As one who spent his young adult years in the late 60’s and early 70’s I am used to turmoil and chaos in our country. We were a country at odds over race, war, women’s rights, abortion and the economy. We lived through three assassinations, the Vietnam War, riots and demonstrations in our cities, riots and demonstrations on our college campuses, an oil embargo, a stagnant economy, high inflation, a military draft and much more. We were a country divided between those that wanted change and those who wanted “law and order”. We were a country divided between the vocal activists and the “silent majority”.
Even families were divided. Many of the fathers had fought in World War II. Many of the grandfathers fought in World War I. These members of the greatest generation were faced with sons and daughters who were fighting back against the status quo. Against authority. The parents did not understand their own children. The children couldn’t understand why their parents didn’t see all the problems in the country. This divide was expressed in the younger generation’s music by many rock and roll artists.
In 1972, the “silent majority” voted Richard Nixon into a second term as president, even though there was plenty of evidence of potential wrongdoing by Nixon and his VP Spiro Agnew. Nixon’s victory over his Democratic opponent McGovern was an ass kicking of epic magnitude as Nixon won every state, except for Massachusetts. In less than a year everything started falling apart or falling in place depending on your point of view.
In October 1973 Agnew resigned as V.P and Gerald Ford was named as his replacement. In August 1974 Nixon resigned as president as the evidence against him at his impeachment trial became overwhelming. Gerald Ford was named president. Ford then promptly pardoned Nixon for all previous and future charges which may have occurred during his time as president.
In 1976, Gerald Ford lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter. Following that election, I was convinced it would be a long time before the country would ever elect a Republican as president. With Carter in office, the Vietnam war was behind us, campus unrest was behind us, the racial divide was narrowing. The country felt less divided and more on the same page when it came to social issues.
I couldn’t have been more wrong about the country not electing a Republican president. Beginning in 1981 Republican presidents served for the next twelve years. President Reagan introduced a new form of economics where reducing the size of government would allow for tax reductions on the top wage earners and corporations, which would create more income, which would lead to greater spending, investment and growth in the economy. It was known as ‘trickle-down economics”. For the last 40 years it has been the basis of Republican economic strategy.
From 1980 through 2008, there were your normal Republican and Democrat disagreements on policy issues, but the divide in the country appeared to be closing.
In 2008, when Barack Obama became our first African American president, I rejoiced as I felt that we had come a long way from the mid-60s of my youth. It seemed the divide had closed even more.
However, it didn’t take me long to start feeling otherwise. I started getting emails from friends and acquaintances which had tremendous racial overtones. Some emails were downright ugly. It was clear we continued to be a divided country. It was a divide that was below the surface.
Social media started to expand with no guardrails. Everyone had a megaphone in the form of social media. Social media allowed people to say things on the internet that they would never say in public when their identity was known. People could spread lies and untruths and pass them off as facts. People could share their feelings under the autonomy of social media.
As I look back and reflect on the last 50-60 years, I should not be surprised by the results of Tuesday’s election. We have always been a country that has been divided on major social and political issues. In many cases my view or my choice for president has been the minority view.
As I reflect on the presidential election of 1972, my choice for president only carried one state, while an overwhelming majority of the country voted for a president and vice-president who resigned in shame within in two years of being elected to a second term.
The truth of the matter is that the majority does not always make the best choices.
The truth of the matter is that we have always been a country that has been divided. The gap in the divide ebbs and flows over time.
The truth of the matter is that the gap in our country’s divide seems greater now than ever before, however that is not true.
As I lick my wounds from Tuesday’s election, I can take solace in knowing that our country survived a civil war, we survived the Kennedy assassinations and the Martin Luther King assassinations of the 60’s. We grew stronger from the racial and civil unrest of the 60s and early 70s. We recovered from Nixon and Agnew. We were united after 9/11/2001. We elected a black president in 2008, and we had a women win the popular vote in 2016, and a women vice-president in 2020.
I must remember that progress is not a straight line. Progress is three steps forward and two steps backwards. For most of the country this election is a step forward, whether I agree with that or not.
Please see my Video of the Day: Now What? With Steve Shives. Leah brought this to my attention, and it was very helpful as I worked through the results of Tuesday’s election.
Orchid of the Day: The Federal Reserve. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve reduced the federal funds rate by a quarter point to bring the short-term rate down to a set range of 4.5% to 4.75%.
Onion of the Day: The Michigan State Legislature. The election is over. The Dems only control both chambers until December 31, 2024. They haven’t passed meaningful legislation to address the lack of transparency in State government, including political funding. They need to make good on their campaign promises and get the job done.
Question of the Day: Will the President Elect keep his campaign promise of 2016, 2020, and 2024 to build the wall across our border with Mexico?
Video of the Day: Now What? Steve Shives.
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This is one of the best blogs yet! The recap of the last few years is very helpful. Thank you.