Disintegration of the Union?
This post over at VA Virtucon reminded me of something that I've been discussing with some of my insider political friends. Is the United States of America on the verge of falling apart?
Among those that still care about the state of affairs in this country (a dwindling number for the last 50 years), we seem to have become a country split in twain. The American people have ceased to speak with one voice. From illegal immigration to the war on terror, frustration rather than unity reigns. The Supreme Court's approval ratings are down and had been below 50% in the past two years, and the President and Congress are none too popular either.
Jesse Jackson, Jr. and a Republican from the midwest almost came to blows on the House floor, and the video below the fold speaks for itself about the way Republicans and Democrats are getting along in Congress.
Ultimately, I believe that apathy will prevent a true split in this country because Americans are too lazy to secede or create a true political realignment.
As for external threats, the Jihadists are bent on causing another attack on American soil (and experts routinely claim they have the capability), but they have no real standing army at this point, and therefore pose no threat to conquer. The Chinese lack a radical element at this point and have not made any serious moves that show that they want to abruptly disrupt the geopolitical order. The Russians with their claim to the North Pole and the Iranians (just crazy generally) have been acting more irrationally, but I'm not sure World War III is that imminent either.
Thoughts?
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since the patriots and the loyalists, have the American people ever spoken in one voice? Should they? I think lively discussion strengthens the country. Now there does seem to be a certain divisiveness, but I'd be more concerned if we had 300 million people marching in lock-step.
Henry Gonzales of Texas actually DID hit someone on the House floor in the late 1960's.
There are always malcontents. However, in WWII, WWI, each side of the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, and etc., most Americans spoke and marched as one.
Even as the American people assimilated new immigrants, there was always a feeling of what it meant to be an American.
While some of the above may be a bit dramaticized (this is the internet afterall), my point remains. It just doesn't feel much like the America you read about in grade school anymore.
Jack, I looked up the guy you mentioned and it said he hit the guy outside of a restaurant. He had a confrontation on the floor, but it didn't say he hit him.
I was thinking of the guy who got caned before the civil war.
We were all united after 9/11. Then Bush invaded Iraq and decided to exploit 9/11 for partisan gain in the 2002 election. You reap what you sow.
here are some other parliament fights, not that it has anything to do with the US
Russia:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mZGaaqH2o6I
India:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=beI0R8_zREk
Afghanistan:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IYl9VEkukWM
Taiwan (via Canada):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=a_-Eigd7RbU
Iraq:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5zHT5JVNZDI
how are you going to cite the civil war as an example of Americans speaking in a unified voice?!
Gonzales hit the guy on the house floor in the shoulder -- the one in the diner he hit in the face.
I think we are rapidly reaching the point that the British Army officer in the movie Gettysburg talked about, i.e. the North and South (or the Left and Right today) had "The same God (sorry, strike that, I don't want to insult our secular friends), same language, same history, same legends, same myths, but different dreams, different dreams...."
Geez, another angry latino?
I don't see a split happening anytime soon. The American people have never spoken with one voice--to the contrary, I consider our country dead when we do.
More to the point--the most divisive issues of the day don't carry as strong of a regional split like slavery, or even the War of 1812, both issues that led to secession or close to it. We don't have as clear of a North-South or New England-Rest of Country split. Opposition to the Iraq war is entrenched in pockets all around the country. I don't see Massachusetts and Texas going to arms over immigration.
Until our political differences move from plain divisive to divisive with a strong regional bent, I don't see a split happening.
One more thing.
That video is not legislators disagreeing.
THIS is legislators disagreeing.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_-Eigd7RbU
And hey, the Taiwanese seem to have carried on relatively well adjusted.
During the Revolutionary War the Americans did not speak with one voice either. The dissident voices would become by neccesity the population of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick when they left to remain loyal to the crown after 1781.