Far Too Many Americas

The problem with America is simple - there are far too many "Americas". John Edwards, now a perennial also-ran in the presidential race, once opined about the direness of there being only a mere "two Americas" where he tried the typical class warfare tactic of pitting the poor and lower middle class against the upper middle class and the "rich". If only it was so simple.

I say that I wish it were only that simple because I believe that reconciling just two Americas and educating people who actually believe that those who have more should be reviled and slapped down by the mighty hand of government would be at least a possible task. But when you look at the rhetoric thrown around in our election cycle this year the facade of there being only a mere two Americas is lifted.

Bill Clinton is out and about dividing voters among racial and gender lines. By doing that he has also created "Black America," "White America," "Hispanic America," "male America," and "female America" just to start the additions to the list of the many Americas that now exist.

Beyond that you have other prevalent Americas that always crop up during political seasons demanding to be pandered to. It would be impossible to overlook "Illegal Immigrant America" (one of John McCain's favorite groups by the way), "gay America," "oh my God, we're all going to die from man made Global Warming America," and "we're not going to drill for our own oil and remain dependent on foreign countries America."

But that's still not all of them. Name a special interest group seeking some sort of recognition and you have found a new America. Why I feel like Christopher Columbus with all this discovering of Americas going on!

What about "where's my welfare check America"? Or maybe "unborn babies aren't human even though they are and don't have a right to life even though they do America"? And don't ever forget about "Americans shouldn't have the right to be armed and defend themselves America" lest those that live in this particular America come with pitchforks and torches to your house in the middle of the night.

Some of these Americas can always be counted on for a good laugh too. Americas like "the evil Jews control everything America," "didn't you know that the U.S. government was behind September 11th America," "White Power Neo-Nazi America" and "we support our soldiers even thought we think they are a bunch of murdering bastards who have been programmed by a fascist dictator to kill innocent people America," are just a few examples.

How about "I can't control my own pie hole and need the government to force restaurants to serve me healthy food America"?

And "someone else should pay for my Health Care America" might be a nice place to visit. Mind you I said visit, not live in.

Of course, not all these various Americas are necessarily bad. But the problem is that those Americas that aren't bad are the ones that don't see themselves first and foremost as part of any America other than the United States of America. The only people that see them as such are those running around trying to divide up America. Americas such as "limited government America," "pro personal liberty America," and "damn I love the country America" aren't much of a problem.

No, it's all the rest of them, the anti-America Americas, which are the problem. And the problem is that there are so many of them and that it so hard to confront them with the truth and bring them back to the basic principles which used to unite us all under the banner of simply "America".

Why? Because there is too much power to be gained by becoming part of a sub-America. And there is even more power to be gained by pandering to these Americas and brokering uneasy alliances between them. But as Senator Teddy Kennedy is now learning, you cross one America and support another America at your own risk.

After endorsing fellow Senator Barack Obama, "we're women and we don't need men but need your manly approval even though we don't need men America" and the women and the National Organization for Women's New York Chapter who reside there gave him a verbal tongue lashing for daring not to support their candidate - Hillary Clinton.

Oh poor Teddy. He should have known better. Tsk tsk.

But he has no one to blame except himself since he has helped to create all these various Americas over the years. And as each of these Americas gains power for themselves, the one true America weakens. Cracks in the foundation on which we stand as a nation form as the lines of delineation are drawn often based on arbitrary standards, falsehoods and purely wishful thinking. We are no longer a nation united but rather a nation divided.

And unless we fight a civil war of ideas soon and win, defeating all these anti-American Americas once and for all, we will never survive. Until we return to embracing the basics of all men created equal, truly unalienable rights and limited government to defend those rights from foreign threats and domestic anti-American Americans the America that should continue on being the greatest and freest nation on the planet will go the way of the dinosaurs.