By David Harsanyi
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Political unity is an ugly, authoritarian idea. No free
place has domestic political unity, nor should it aspire to it.
What “unity” really means, of course, is capitulation.
America is once again being subjected to the inane brand of pseudo-patriotic
sloganeering we saw during the Obama years. Now, as then, the media will
pretend that the moral fabric of the nation must be mended after Republican rule.
It’s pretty transparent. When Democrats win the presidency, we are treated to
solemn calls for national restoration and political harmony, and to the
expectation that, for the good of the nation, the opposition will embrace
decorum and pass legislation they oppose. When Republicans win elections, grown
women put on knitted hats depicting their reproductive organs and stomp around
Washington protesting, all to a hero’s welcome.
Time magazine, the same publication that helped
erode trust in our electoral system with conspiratorial covers of the White
House morphing
into the Kremlin, now offers a commemorative cover featuring Joe Biden and
Kamala Harris with the words, “A time to heal.” Unlike some of our progressive
friends, I don’t believe in enemies
lists or censorship, so my healing process is simple: It involves playing
whatever small part I can in extinguishing the political fortunes of those who
want to weaken the Constitution. I’m not at all interested in finding accord
with those who want to overturn the Hyde amendment, thereby making late-term
abortion a state-funded practice, or with anyone who wants to “reengage”
without any genuine preconditions with Holocaust-denying terror regimes such as
Iran, or with anyone who wants to further socialize our health-care system by
adding a “public option.” Like many others, I find disunity quite therapeutic.
I suspect that, in a few weeks, “political polarization”
will once again become an existential crisis of American governance. My
favorite post-election headline
came from the social scientists at Pew Research Center, who informed us that
the “2020 election reveals two broad voting coalitions fundamentally at odds.” Two
broad coalitions, you say? Fundamentally at odds? What are the chances?
Michelle Obama says we can overcome our divisions, but
that Democrats must first remember “that tens of millions of people voted for
the status quo, even when it meant supporting lies, hate, chaos, and division.”
She suggests that there is “a lot of work to do to reach out to these folks in
the years ahead and connect with them on what unites us.” It’s somewhat
difficult to process this level of obnoxious sanctimony. Here is a list of
demands you divisive Republicans must embrace for the country to “unite.” Get
on with it.
Anyhow, I reject this false choice in the name of
patriotic disunity. Not one of those 71 million agents of chaos lied to
millions of Americans to strip us of our health-care insurance plans. Not one
of those voters has attempted to force nuns to buy contraception — or sued them
when they refused. One day I hope Michelle will stop defending the lies, hate,
and division that her husband inflicted on this great nation. Until then,
though, we’ll have to agree to disagree.
We do that sort of thing in Washington. The liberal pivot
from “resistance” to “unity” is as swift as it is dishonest. After four years
of treating every unexceptional conservative policy victory as one of the Seven
Seals of the Apocalypse, Washington Post columnists are already dusting
off their
columns about “obstructionism” and “minority rule.” After years of blanket
opposition to Trump, we are being told that Joe Biden has a national “mandate.”
He does not. God willing, Washington is headed for more
“gridlock” — a completely healthy, organic reflection of the geographical,
ideological, and theological differences of real people in contemporary
America. Congress makes laws, and right now that institution is narrowly
divided, and unlikely to be able to come together on any of the big-ticket
items Biden promised. This is why federalism exists.
Unity is found in comity with your neighbors, in your
churches and schools, in your everyday interactions with your community.
Politics is not a place for unity. It is a place for airing grievances. And
we’ve got plenty.
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