Ashes in their mouths

By William Warren

For those who continue to deceptively hype the “hope, unity, change,” tripe, it’s time to consider the numbers. And weigh the risk.

According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, President Obama has earned himself the widest partisan gap in job approval in modern American history. The spread between Democrats and Republicans who approve of Mr. Obama’s performance is a staggering 61 points—with a whopping 88% approval from Democrats and a paltry 27% from the GOP.

For a bit of context, here’s how other recent Presidents fared at this time during their respective administrations: President Bush earned a 51-point partisan gap in approval between the parties, Clinton had a 45-point gap, George H.W Bush had a 38-point gap, Reagan suffered a 46-point gap, Carter had only a 25-point gap, and even the much-maligned Nixon experienced only a 29-point gap. Mr. Obama’s 61-point spread tops the charts – by a full 10 points.

Thus, the mainstream media’s much-applauded “era of unity” under Barack Obama is shaping up to be historically divisive. And the fact is, the great divide—which is fast becoming a gaping chasm—may well be the precursor to a looming Balkanization of America.

The real problem is that the present division makes perfect sense. After all, the hyper-partisanship the nation is currently experiencing stems directly from the unbridled vitriol the Democrats enthusiastically birthed and brutally nurtured during the George W. Bush years.

The assault on President Bush—beginning December of 2000 when the Supreme Court ruled him the victor—was rooted in pure, unprecedented venom. For eight long years, Democrats venally stoked the bitter fires of partisan disdain. The “loyal opposition” in America became the loathing opposition. And the days of American unity—regardless of the occupant of the White House—were suddenly declared at an end.

For whatever the reason—Mr. Bush’s so-called “theft” of the election, his outspoken religious beliefs, or his obvious lack of Ivy-League Georgetown vocal nuance—those on the left made up their mind to destroy the President from day one.

There was the dour Harry Reid calling President Bush a “liar”and a “loser.” There were congressional Democrats habitually undermining the war effort, with their willing cadre of Code Pink harpies coarsely screeching, “Bush lied, people died.” Day after day, the Democrats’ surrogates in the leftwing media declared the President a “pathological-presidential liar or an Idiot-in-Chief.” And leftwing filmmakers like Michael Moore and Oliver Stone ruthlessly ridiculed Mr. Bush on the big screen. Politically. Personally. Endlessly.

In short, before the Bush presidency had even begun, enraged personal vilification became the hallmark of the Democratic Party and its mean-spirited minions.

So, to see this divisiveness now manifesting itself during the first few months of the Obama Administration is not surprising. A tiger doesn’t change its stripes – nor do the Democrats change their strategy.

For those on the far left, it is not enough to rule. They must also ruin. Having conquered, they must now divide.

The unfortunate truth is that as President, Barack Obama has not merely welcomed this divide, but has exacerbated it as well. Who can forget Mr. Obama’s icy arrogance on January 23rd—a mere two days after being inaugurated—during a private between congressional Democrats and Republicans? In response to a plea by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) for national unity on the economic front, Obama smugly declared, “I won,” caustically adding, “You just can’t listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done … I will trump you on that.”

And what kind of message has Mr. Obama sent by selecting the cynically partisan Rahm Emanuel to be his Chief of Staff? This is, after all, the same man who sent a rotting dead fish carcass to a pollster who rubbed him the wrong way. It is the same man who showed his bipartisan side by routinely referring to Republicans as “tired, incompetent, corrupt.”

And it is the same man of whom Salon magazine wrote:

“On Election Night [2006], 10 minutes after CNN called the House for the Democrats, Emanuel climbed up on a table in DCCC headquarters and addressed his cheering, victory-starved staff, celebrating the party’s biggest win since 1992. He wanted to wrap up the campaign with a message for the Republicans.

“’Since my kids are gone, I can say it,” he shouted. ‘They can go f*** themselves!’”

Moreover, Mr. Obama’s Big Government, big-spending liberal initiatives have communicated his arrogant disdain for working with the Republican Party – and his Republican constituents nationwide—in any way whatsoever. It’s therefore no surprise that Mr. Obama’s approval rating among the GOP continues to plummet to deeper, unforeseen subterranean levels day after day—widening the expansive partisan gulf.

Simply put, President Obama’s much ballyhooed “unity” mantra has quickly proven to be a charade. And the American people already know it. Rather than ushering in an era of unity, the 44th President has cynically divided the nation asunder. The numbers don’t lie.

One would hope that the Democrats would somehow realize that to continue their deliberate policy of hyper-partisan animus will invariably spell disaster for the country. And their party.

Grasping the larger hope, one would pray that they would soon realize that to continue fostering a septic divide will only lead to Balkanization. And should that occur, as it almost inevitably will, the party bringing it about may one day hearken back with woeful ear to the words of their own icon nearly 50 years ago: “The spoils of victory will be ashes in their mouths.”

William Warren is a Contributing Editor of ALG News Bureau.