This has become one of the most interesting political years of my lifetime. Americans have never been more angry and distrustful of their political class in Washington than they are today.
Liberals are mad at Democrats, conservatives are mad at Republicans, and combined with the usual anger across party lines, it's a disaster. Dozens of problems have been left unattended to by politicians in both parties.
Voters realize that we have perhaps passed an important threshold -- our financial problems probably can't be solved without serious societal disruption. We are boiling over at each other and at our leaders. Our political dissatisfaction is pervasive and more personal than ever.
While personal animus has always been a part of politics, today it is a dominant feature of the debate. More and more people are thinking bad thoughts and saying bad things about each other in the process of disagreement.
Today the left, including the media, applies a template to conservatives: We are white, arrogant, intolerant, Bible-thumping, gun-toting, uneducated hicks that have too many babies, hate minorities and pollute the environment. We're "rich" or from big evil corporations. Did I leave out the warmongering part? We don't understand ordinary Americans either, and we certainly don't want to help the poor.
The right applies a template to the left too: They are angry, arrogant, self-appointed intellectuals that refuse to defend the country, love illegal immigrants, hate school choice and are tolerant of every religion on Earth except Christianity. They value animals more than people, view abortion as a sacrament and relentlessly support gay marriage. They oppose all war unless they're in charge because only they can be trusted and their entire existence is defined by meaningless slogans found on bumper stickers. They love spending other people's money.
No wonder we can't get along. More and more people on both sides believe the template.
I think the present ridiculousness started with George W. Bush's election in 2000. He was accused of stealing the election in Florida, and branded by the left as a dufus, a hick from Texas, the "shrub," and whatever other name they could think of.
Those attacks continue to this day, and in some quarters it's referred to as "Bush derangement syndrome." The terrorism of 9/11 and resulting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq gave the left more material. "Bush lied, people died" became their rallying cry, and many on the left, including elected leaders, referred to Bush as a Nazi and warmonger.
They took to the well of the House and Senate and attacked him repeatedly, even though they had authorized him to go to war. In a breathtaking breach of tradition, Vice President Al Gore said President Bush "betrayed this country ... he played on your fears."
In 2004, Bush won the election by a narrow margin over Sen. John Kerry as the right countered with the now famous "Swift Boat" ads, which effectively ended Kerry's chances of becoming president.
President Obama was elected last November with a scant 52.9% of the vote and solid majorities in both Houses of Congress. Giving the left a dose of their own tactics, conservatives challenged Obama's birth records, question his ability to speak without a TelePrompTer and accuse him of being a liar about his health reform plans.
More significantly, there is a deepening anger in the country directly related to political ineptitude and it is directed at most of our elected federal officials in both parties.
It's not only a disagreement about policy. Each side is seriously questioning the other side's intelligence, sincerity and ability to get the job done. These are ugly, ugly times in America today. We are without a unifying leader, without a Reagan, America's last president to win with a mandate.
The world is watching, sensing our weakness and disunity. At some point soon, we need to be ready to lock arms and be Americans again, protecting and preserving this great nation of ours against those with a vested interest in our failures.
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