The Unity Myth Exposed: It's Americans versus Americans

As Americans brace for a presidential election next year they are also preparing for a civil war.

Cartoonist Walt Kelly's character Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." The phrase's origins go back to Oliver Hazard Perry's famous report where he bragged that "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." 

The irony of that statement rings like a bell in hell. We are our own worst enemies. Not Russia. Not China. Not North Korea. Not Iran. No. 

We are on a destructive path that started seven years ago when Trump was elected president and he set out to destroy democracy and the rules of the land. 

After losing the 2020 election Trump dropped all pretense of caring about Americans needs and went on a personal vendetta and spread the Big Lie. He's still doing it in his campaign to get reelected in 2024.

You know whose fault Trump is? He's our fault. That crazy segment of Americans that elected him crawled out of their basements and caves to give Trump the opportunity to take down our republic and turn it into an authoritarian country.

When Trumpism became a full-fledged cult in the last three years the country plunged into chaos and divided America into two tribes that hate each other.

One could argue that social media opened the doors to lies and misinformation that plagues the land now. But it's more complicated than that.

It didn't help when the country was fighting COVID-19 that extremists took advantage of people's fears by denying the science of vaccines and telling followers that it was bad for them. 

The lingering effects of those lies is still slithering through conservative circles who seek to destroy the constitution and everything this nation was founded on.

Historians say Rome fell from within. There was no country that could defy them and get away with it. But internal politics doomed the mighty empire.

The comparison to America's plight is obvious. Americans are so entrenched in political camps that compromise seems impossible. That's leading to the gradual deterioration of democracy and the world we grew up in.

What could possibly unify Americans during these terrible times? Would a war where an enemy attacks us galvanize Americans to come together in the spirit of freedom?

Frankly I'm not sure. 

As it stands, the way Republicans are embracing Putin and other world dictators is alarming. The Trump cult may end up siding with the enemy.