Bernie Rabik: Can Trump, like the Queen, ever be a bridge-builder?
Our country is in critical need of a bridge-builder. We need a profile in courage, not a profile in ignorance.
The foundation of American democracy is both dialogue and compromise. It is a coming together — putting friction aside. It is not refusing to accept the consequences of lying or falsifying the truth. Or will former President Trump be the same old Trump — politics growing dumb and dumber?
Unfortunately, our politics is all about hatred. Pay attention to the political ads currently appearing on TV. The consequences of those choices are where life is.
Apologies must be more than empty gestures — talk is cheap. In the instant case, democracy demands that there be a peaceful transfer of power ―not a profile in ignorance, upon loss of an election where there is no evidentiary proof of fraud.
Patriotism is plummeting in our country A new poll reveals that patriotism is at an all-time low. Is there anyone not aware of the failed coup on Jan. 6? If that coup were successful, how would it have impacted our democracy?
It is impossible to carry out democratic elections, try cases at court, design and enforce laws, or indeed manage any of the other quiet businesses of government when agencies beyond the state also have access to violence.
For just this reason, people and parties who wish to undermine democracy and the rule of law create and fund violent organizations which involve themselves in politics.
Such groups can take the form of a paramilitary wing of a political party, the personal bodyguard of a particular politician — or apparently spontaneous citizens’ initiatives, which usually turn out to have been organized by a party or its leader.
Be wary of paramilitaries.
Old and young, the first to go and the last, near or far, big or small, first or last, you matter.
As I get older, I am so aware of the way we constantly alter the narrative of our past.
The last word belongs to Charlie Mackesy’s The Body, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.
“Often the hardest person to forgive is yourself.” The mole explained to the boy.
“What is the bravest thing you’ve ever said?” asked the boy. “Help.” said the horse.
“Nothing beats kindness.” Said the horse. “It sits quietly beyond all things.”
If former President Trump heeds the advice of The Body, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, he, like the Queen, can be a bridge-builder.
Bernard Rabik, a Hopewell Township attorney, is a columnist for The Times.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Rabik: Can Trump, like the Queen, ever be a bridge-builder?
