Whatever happened to ‘We BOTH win’?

I’m sitting in the coffee shop part of a major department store typing this post while my wife shops.

We have different shopping habits, so she prefers to come here together and leave together but not SHOP together. And I’m okay with that. It gives me time to post, or read, or research.

We both win!

Unfortunately however, that’s my point for this post – not the ‘win‘ part; it’s the ‘both‘ part.

For the last eight elections (since 2009), the struggle for control of Congress and/or the Presidency has taken on a distinctly partisan attitude. Citizens who are Democrats or Republicans no longer both win regardless of the party in control of Congress or the Oval Office.

It’s no longer just a matter of this party “favors business” or that party “favors social programs.” The distinct differences are magnified now to the point that one party’s supporters feel their right to safety in person and property is jeopardized if the other party wins the election.

In other words, our idealogical differences are polarizing.

Where is that dictim so often used ABOUT American politics: Majority rules; Minority (losers not races) rights? That is to say that regardless of who’s running the country, the losing side is still respected and all the laws passed are made for ALL citizens and evenly applied.

The rancor, the intensity, this new Majority-rules-and-to-h***-with-the-losers mentality that now permeates our electoral base are NOT the feelings and behaviors the Founding Fathers envisioned when they designed our government blueprint (the Constitution). Nor did subsequent generations of citizens and lawmakers envision them as they added ongoing adjustments to the Constitution as times, thoughts, and circumstances changed.

In fact, the Founding Fathers worried about opposition within the country to electoral winners. That’s why THEY said that the presidential candidate that LOSES becomes the Vice-President! [Imagine Trump as Prez and Clinton as V-Prez!]

But in your reaction to that thought is the point I’m trying to make. Why do we raise our eyebrows or dryly laugh at the idea of that now? It’s because of the rancor. It’s because of the intensity. It’s because no longer do both sides win.

Folks, we KNOW something is wrong in America.

And we need to set it right – before we can’t.

Food for thought.

Mac