Always doing what you’ve always done

By John M. Fisher
Published: September 9, 2008

This week, as we prepare to remember the most cowardly and bloody attack on this nation since Pearl Harbor, it is critical that we make some important observations about ourselves as a nation.

In the days that followed the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we were perhaps strongest because we were united in purpose and resolve. We were hurt and we were angry, but at least we stood united in that pain. Prior to that moment, we were weakened not only by a lack of leadership, but also by our preoccupation with partisan divisions.

On the eve of the upcoming presidential election, the question to ponder is this: How divided are we today?

After watching both the Democratic and Republican national conventions, I must conclude that we are just as torn apart now as we have ever been, hence we are just as weak. The real culprit in this drama is not any one particular candidate, but rather a system of politics that has twisted and warped both political parties.

Political gamesmanship has replaced statesmanship. Providing true leadership is not as important as winning. The end result of such a line of thinking is tragic for the fate of the nation and its citizens as a whole. Issues go unchallenged and problems remain unsolved.

It took a lot of guts for Sen. John McCain to state that his party had failed when he made the statement that, “We went to Washington to change Washington, but Washington changed us.” It speaks volumes that President Bush was not welcome at his own party’s convention.

We have allowed the special interests and power brokers to take control of the people who control our very lives. They use the pundits and water bearers to make this all “a game.” We are then expected to choose sides and root for our team. But in the final analysis, are we not all on the same team? At least we should be. We were after the 9/11 attacks.

But not today.

I have heard it said repeatedly by the people who don’t want you and I to “get it” that this election will now be about personalities and not issues. But that is what usually ends up happening in every election — and we all suffer as a result. Lies will be told and promises will be made and after it is all over, the rich will get richer, the powerful will have even more power and those of us who were fooled again will be laughed about and forgotten — until the next election.

In less than two months, each of us will be asked to make a critical choice about the direction of this nation. I cannot stress enough the importance of making this a deliberate, well thought out decision. It is not only about your own lives, but those of your children and grandchildren.

This is still a blessed nation, but its future course is at a dangerous crossroads. The path that we choose is critical, and despite what you may have been led to believe, this is much more than some game.

That being said, there are still highly placed people who will continue to insist that you treat this as a game with separate “us vs. them” sides. If you take it as such, no matter who wins, we all lose.

Toward that end, we should remember that some unite and some divide us. Given what you should know about the state of affairs in this country, how then should we proceed — united as Americans with hope for our future or divided into “sides” with only hatred and contempt for those who do not view things exactly as we have been told that we should?

History has a way of repeating itself. I don’t want to see another savage attack on this nation aided by our own self-created internal divisions. Remember, America was never intended to be a winner-take-all, divided republic. There was supposed to be liberty and justice for all.

One thing is for sure. No one can ever expect to continue to do things in a failed manner and expect somehow that those flawed efforts will end in a positive result.

They never do — and they never will.

John M. Fisher of Danville is a businessman, documentary filmmaker and freelance writer, and is the former bureau chief for KDFW, a CBS affiliate in Fort Worth, Texas. You may contact him at .