OPINION:
As another presidential election approaches, the siren song of unity begins. We need leaders who can bring us all together, the media mumble. We must find common ground, the talking heads insist.
Hogwash.
America has never been more deeply divided — a division created by the radical left, which controls the Democratic Party.
Appeals to unity are a ploy to get conservatives to pull their punches. The establishment wants us to fight with one hand tied behind our back while it wields a battleaxe.
In his inaugural address two years ago, President Biden declared: “Let’s give each other a chance. We must put away harsh rhetoric. Our opponents aren’t our enemies” and “the grim era of demonization ends here and now.”
It was truly a Hallmark moment.
In reality, Mr. Biden is to civility what former President Donald Trump is to humility.
We caught glimpses of the real Mr. Biden on the 2020 campaign trail, like when he told a factory worker who criticized his stand on gun control not to be “such a horse’s ass” and that he was “full of sh—.”
Mr. Biden has always been a hit man for the Democratic mob.
As a vice presidential candidate in 2012, he told a mostly Black audience that Mitt Romney wanted to “put y’all back in chains.”
Following the calls for unity in his inaugural address came two years of relentless attacks on ultra-MAGA Republicans, labeling Mr. Trump’s philosophy “semi-fascism,” calling those who object to stolen elections “insurrectionists,” and warning that if his party lost control of Congress in the 2022 election, it would mean the end of democracy. Harsh rhetoric? Perish the thought.
Where is the common ground between Middle America and what has become a neo-Marxist party? On the most contentious issues confronting us, compromise is impossible.
On abortion, some of us believe the unborn child is a person from the moment of conception and deserves the full protection of the law. The president’s party thinks the only thing that matters is the absolute right of a woman to get an abortion at any stage of pregnancy.
What was once the party of slavery and the KKK now says that the nation’s White majority owes a debt to people of color that can never be repaid, and that quotas and reparations are a matter of simple fairness. On the other side are those who believe in the American ideal of a colorblind society.
On immigration, one side is borderline insane. It believes that everyone who wants to be here has a right to be here, and it’s the job of the Border Patrol to make illegal aliens as comfortable as possible while it arranges transportation to the interior. Then there are those who believe in national sovereignty and agree with President Ronald Reagan that a nation that can’t control its borders is well on its way to extinction.
Regarding the slaughter in our urban centers, one side says enforce the law, back the police and put those who are a danger to society behind bars. The other side believes in root causes, favors no-cash bail, and wants to “reimagine” law enforcement (turn police into social workers).
On climate and energy, it’s the cult of global warming versus lights and heat in our homes and gas in our cars. One side says abolish the internal combustion engine, stop digging and drilling, and take us back to a pre-industrial standard of living.
The other observes that there is no evidence of catastrophic climate change, and at least for the near future, we can’t survive without fossil fuels.
On sexual morality, the choice is between neo-pagans who believe the Bible contains an outdated moral code, homosexuality is as valid as heterosexuality, and a man who thinks he’s a woman should be able to shower with your daughter, and those who follow both the science and the Bible.
I defy anyone to find a middle ground here. The political landscape looks more like a crater-scarred no man’s land. We will be one nation under God or one that’s turned its back on God — the United States of America or the People’s Republic of Bernie.
A country whose goal is unity above all else ends up looking a lot like Communist China, North Korea or a list of Ivy League graduation speakers.
I like partisanship. In politics, the goal should be honesty and clarity, not a spurious unity.
• Don Feder is a columnist with The Washington Times.
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