Uniting Americans in Democratic Process

This Letter To The Editor appeared on or about Christmas Day 2004 in the Marquette, Michigan, Mining Journal.

     I agree with your editorial of Thursday, 11-4-2004. You said that the country should unite after the divisive Bush versus Kerry campaign and that President Bush, who got a bare majority of votes, should have the humility and good sense to "govern from the center."
     In a democracy, unity does not mean agreeing 100% with every act and word of the President or of anyone else. I think rather it means finding broad areas of agreement, then debating the details of each goal and path, to achieve, if not ideal decisions and giant leaps forward, at least workable compromises. The nature of a democratic republic is that one's opponent on one issue in the morning may be one's ally on another issue in the afternoon, with all united in the democratic process.
     I have adamantly opposed the Bush administration on numerous grounds, but I do agree with Bush that democracies in the countries of the Near and Middle East would be better than dictatorships or theocracies. If I agree with Bush about anything, it is likely that many others across the political spectrum agree with him on that point, too.
     The details are debatable. Is invading and occupying another country, self-servingly manipulating its economy, dominating its process of regime change, and building numerous military bases there an effective way to help that country progress from dictatorship to democracy? Or counterproductive, creating an insurgents versus foreign invaders and quislings war? And what about the contradiction between those who seek real, unfettered democracy and those, like President Bush and his ilk, who want to impose a strings-attached democracy in Iraq, skewed for the profitable advantage of American corporations and financiers?
     Two neighbors might disagree on whether the American occupation is the solution or the problem in Iraq but might agree, for example, about the need for affordable baseline health insurance for all Americans. My hopeful daydream is that Americans coast to coast will gather together regularly in small groups at the neighborhood level, to exchange views about a variety of issues and to look for common ground, or middle ground, or better understanding of differences. Such Freirean small groups would be a leavening bottom-up influence on politicians and public institutions, leading to new constellations of political alliances and, hopefully, improved and more democratic government.

          Brian Leekley
          Marquette, Michigan