It's not easy to imagine these days, but there was a pre-Trumpian time when conservatives didn't just rant and rave and carry on in general. They thought and debated and, to use an antiquated term, treated both opponents and allies with a chivalry unknown in these rude times. Unfortunately, even tragically, that time passed with Edmund Burke, who mourned its passing, and in these memorable words:
But the age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever. Never, never more shall we behold that generous loyalty to rank and sex, that proud submission, that dignified obedience, that subordination of the heart, which kept alive, even in servitude itself, the spirit of an exalted freedom. The unbought grace of life, the cheap defense of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise, is gone! It is gone, that sensibility of principle, that chastity of honor, which felt a stain like a wound, which inspired courage whilst it mitigated ferocity, which ennobled whatever it touched, and under which vice itself lost half its evil, by losing all its grossness.
Does anyone now remember when the loyal opposition had a conception of good government that did not begin--and end--with cutting the federal budget and calculating the national debt in worried tones, without any concern for the common good, or what all those figures mean in terms of whether the nation as a whole is advancing or decaying?
Budgets are more than budgets. They can show where a nation is headed--toward prosperity or ruin or that never-never land in between where all light dims. Let us ask whether the American people are being well- or ill-served by our leaders. Ask? Let us demand clear answers and clear goals. But this current crop of Banana Republicans has no more concept of the general welfare than a hog has of Sunday, if even a hog will on occasion find an acorn--purely by happenstance.
It's not that the party of Lincoln has fallen on hard times, but that it no longer seems to care about the nation's fortunes but only its own. It can weep and wail, but how long has it been since it was led by a candidate who showed some genuine concern for the American people and its fate, particularly those who feel the American Dream has bypassed them--if they ever shared it at all? It's hard to recognize this America as the one that was once hailed as the hope and light of the world.
What a difference has taken place not just in the world's conception of America but in our own. Back in 1860 not just the Republican Party had fallen apart but the country itself, yet somehow both party and country picked themselves up, dusted off their clothes and dreams, and proceeded to astound the world, unleashing social, economic and moral resources that are still at work and at play. Never sell America short!
Yet this era's Republicans seem to do little else. Make us great again! they cry. As if America ever ceased to be great. What a bunch of losers, or at least losers-to-be. It's enough to make one wonder: Has the old can-do spirit that once characterized this country gone? The rest of the world doesn't believe it; its people continue to flock here no matter what obstacles they may face.
Yes, this nation has seen hard times. and harder ones may be yet to come, but it has yet to face a crisis it could not overcome if it will just remember Franklin Roosevelt's words:
I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. This is pre-eminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
But instead of unity, justice and confidence--the hallmarks of a free and advancing people and its leaders--we are presented with a batch of presidential candidates unworthy of our trust and belief, whether we're talking about Republicans or Democrats or independents-cum-socialists. Envy, rancor, ill will . . . . those are not what these times or any other call for, but Edmund Burke's grace and light. Instead we seem enveloped by gloom and doom. Enough! Let us awaken and redeem our country--and ourselves. For the end of manners betokens the end of much else that needs restoring. Edmund Burke knew what he was talking about. Does either the party in power or the one that very much wants to be? There's no sign of it.
Editorial on 05/02/2016