Like many people I have a sour view of politics, the country seems to be heading places I never expected it to go. In my four score years and one I have never been so ashamed of our politician’s behavior. Among the political elite there is a winner takes all mentality. They only seem to care about their voters needs and wants, rather than what the county wants or needs. I guess that is natural in this “Me” centered society.

While there are somethings that divide us and can never be resolved, there are many that can be and those are the places politicians should be going, but the political class would rather continue with the divisive talk and attacks on the foundations of our republic. One thing I know is you can’t legislate morals; they are what the are. Making laws won’t change that, they only create a new criminal class.

America has always been an accepting place. A place where people could go to escape poverty, persecution, and violence. To live free of fear. Yet today we see a political class leading the mobs against newcomers, immigrants. They justify it by making them illegal. Our forefathers didn’t do that, their only requirement for citizenship was that you be of good character. There have always been attempts by a few people to exclude people who were not like them. Laws to exclude aliens have been struck down over and over. That is not what our country is about. We are a multi-culutural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial society that early on accepted no group would or could dominate. We were taught it was a melting pot.

However, the founding fathers were white men whose origins were predominantly North European, English for the most part. Until the last hundred years they dominated the government and its offices. Today, after amending the Constitution we see a different picture. While white men continue to dominate government, they share the podium with women and people whose origins are wide and varied. Yet we still see them trying to hang on to their prerogative and attempting to deny those others their equal rights. It is disappointing because that is not the country I grew up in nor are these the American beliefs we were taught.

That winner takes all attitude has led us to great division in this country. Take abortion for instance, we are a country divided. Many states now have laws guaranteeing it. Before the politicians began meddling Americans were free to make their own choices. You can’t legislate morals, yet a political class has decided it can. Have they succeeded in stopping abortions, No. What they have succeeded in doing is making new criminal class. Abortion is a moral question and no matter the law people will take their own beliefs. It is one of those things that should have never been taken up by government. When polls are taken about 2/3s of Americans are not for abortion bans, yet he politicans with their winner take all mentality have been delivered for their own constituents, not for the country or the people.

Today we find our Supreme Court willing to ignore the values of our Constitution and affirm politicians attempts to deny equal rights to its people. In a case brought by the state of Louisiana they have decided that states should be able to deny equal representation to their residents and allowed them to Gerrymander those rights away. That winner takes all attitude again. They won the election so your needs are no longer relevant and they are going to fix it so that your rights are never important again. This is how authoritarian societies are born. One group takes the right to decide for you.

It is not hard to be angry at our politicians and government, because the majority of Americans feel left out of the decision making. The government and the partisan politicians are looking after the people’s needs. It seems they only care about these people who sponsor their candidacy and get them elected. The country needs more than that. We need a “We” centered country, the one we were all premised at birth. We need our politicians to represent all of us. That means accommodation and bipartisanship. Leaving things alone we can’t agree on. Stop dictating morals. Be willing to compromise. This is how we can all live together and not be enemies.

Richard King