No

by Dennis Krivda

Created on: April 13, 2010   Last Updated: August 18, 2010

Found on the back of every one-dollar bill printed today, the obverse side of the Great Seal of the United States portrays a steely-eyed American bald eagle proudly carrying a banner in its beak that reads “E pluribus Unum.” Latin for “out of many, one”. The vow of unity served as the de facto motto for the United States of America for nearly two hundred years, until 1956 when Congress adopted the divisive, “In God We Trust” as the official motto of the United States.

Initially meant to represent the uniting of the thirteen original colonies under one federation, Americans have since broadened the application of E pluribus Unum over the past 250 years to include all of the varied cultures, creeds, and political views found throughout the land.

At its core, E pluribus Unum binds the people of the United States together in the belief that even though we are different on many levels, we can still find strength in our unity and common goals. In God We Trust, by comparison, automatically cleaves the citizenry between those who believe in gods and those who do not; and further splits the believers depending on which faith they call their own.

From the Muslim cab driver in Manhattan to the Guatemalan ranch hand in Wyoming, and from the lesbian wedding planner in Milwaukee to the Episcopalian pastor in Georgia, E pluribus Unum sews together the fabric of American society with an unbreakable thread of conviction to the ideal that every American has value and every American can contribute to the goal of forming a more perfect, a more powerful, and a more prosperous union.

For more than two decades the United States government has steadfastly lighted the path toward true freedom and human dignity by employing the most talented leadership, the best ideas, the wisest judgments, and the deepest compassion for people - no matter which political source produced those ideals.

Recently, though, that practice has fallen victim to the partisan politics created by the two party system in America.

With every passing 24-hour news cycle, the natural limits set by the two party system in the United States clearly function only to perpetuate the political mentality of “us against them.” Like the motto of In God We Trust, the two party system naturally cleaves the electorate into opposing forces.

When the people of a nation habitually think ‘if you’re not with us then you’re against us’, the mindset can only tear a nation apart.

Thought becomes the springboard for action. Actions come in the form of bricks through windows, riots, bullets, and the death of Americans at the hands of Americans. (Who can forget 1970 Kent State massacre?)

For that reason alone, the two party system is not working well for the American republic. And the evidence of the current political dysfunction in America emerges from every dark shadow and from every political studio in the nation.

When talking heads on either side of an issue resort to calling one another idiotic, myopic, dystopian or worse, then nobody wins. While the people desperately hope for a genuine leader to guide them in their collective goal of building a brighter future for America, pom-pom wavers on both sides of every political contest seize the spotlight only to distract from the real discussion of the more important issues.

When the focus becomes “how can we make the other candidate look more like an ass than our candidate is” then all of America loses.     

When pundits use the words of Ronald Reagan to ridicule Republican objections to the Obama Administration, all of America loses. When it’s more advantageous to cite a former president like Bill Clinton as a example of sexual misconduct than it is to cite the former president as a source of inspiration simply because that president represented the other political party, every American loses.

Twenty five years ago Ronald Reagan proposed the very same nuclear limitations that Barack Obama pursues today. Instead of lauding Reagan’s wisdom and foresight, satirists who adhere to the Democratic Party prefer to ridicule those Republican politicos who wish to return to a Reagan era political climate.

When short term political gains outweigh the nation’s (and even the world’s) future, the people lose.

In that way, the current two party system in America is failing on a monumental scale.

When it’s easier to enter the polling place and simply cast a ballot in accordance with the party line than it is to actually examine the important issues and vote with a clear conscience, all of America loses.

When a majority of the electorate endorses a candidate simply because that candidate belongs to the proper political party, the electorate grants no favors for their children and their grand children.

In order for a clock to run properly, the pendulum must swing from one extreme to the other. But to get smoothly from one side to the other, the pendulum must always pass through the middle.

At this point in US history, the clock of American politics currently seems to have no middle ground. Divided between democrats and republicans - conservatives and liberals - the timepiece of political progress bangs violently from left to right, right to left and back again!

Moderate voices in the middle rarely enjoy the opportunity for mitigating the wild careening of American politics because such voices tend to alleviate controversy rather than generate it. A lack of controversy makes for a boring political show.  

A boring show makes for a lack of audience. A lack of audience makes for a lack of revenue for those profit-motivated people most concerned with selling books, newspapers, broadcast air time and magazines.

When the American political landscape includes a third party capable of distancing itself from both the left and the right and can also generate the proper amount of political controversy, America will finally experience something more than the current two party system.

Until then, though, Americans must choose between the short-sighted liberal bozo or the right wing conservative nut job. As it stands, neither choice seems all that appealing.

America needs more from its people. America needs more leadership. America needs innovative ideas. In order to lead humanity through the 21st Century, America needs to draw from its most critical resource: its diverse people.

"E pluribus Unum. Out of many, one."

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