Americans across the country work together every day to achieve common goals. We work with one another; building houses, paving roads, and even somehow navigating the horror that is the Fresno City College parking lot. We hold doors for our classmates and smile at each other in passing, never taking into account one another’s political affiliation. Together we stand united, not through singularity of thought, but simply as fellow human beings.
However, congressional unity has not followed a similar course. During the past few years our elected representatives have segregated themselves by the colors of red and blue, conservative and liberal respectively. Those who have dared to break the bonds of these colors have often been chastised and silenced by their own parties. Subsequently, congressional debate has become less about civil discourse than militant talking points.
This is what made President Barack Obama’s State of the Union on Jan. 26 so astounding. In honor of the Tucson tragedy – in which a gunman attempted to assassinate Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords- instead of segregating themselves by party lines, Democrats and Republicans sat together for the president’s speech. In a brief moment of togetherness, party lines were torn down in the search for unity in the wake of tragedy.
For two hours during the State of the Union both parties lived in harmony, much like you and I do every day. Although it may have been just a minor political stunt, not worthy of its own footnote in the history books, it brought back memories of the days after Sept. 11. In the days that followed that horrific calamity there was this same sense of unity. United, Americans wore their stars and stripes proudly and came together in order to overcome the troubles we all faced as a nation. We each still had our own individual opinions, but together we were entwined in the common belief of the great American idea.
Somewhere along the way, however, that spirit died in Washington. Through war, corruption, and economic despair, our politicians forgot the lessons of misfortune. Why then must we wait on tragedy to bring unity? Why must we wait on devastation to bring about solidarity, not in thought or policy, but in the ideals upon which this country is fundamentally based? Do we have to wait for the next great catastrophe to bring us peace, if even just for a moment?
Speaking as a citizen tired of the petty politics that have come to define the last few years, the true enemy of the state is neither Democrats nor Republicans, but the unyielding stagnation that persists due to the lack of American brotherhood between both sides of the aisle.
To witness the unity of both parties during the president’s State of the Union inspires hope. However, to know the story of whether this was a mere political stunt or a concrete attempt at change, we will have to look a year from now, during the next campaigns. The true test will be to see if both parties are still willing to sit together then and not define themselves as Democrats or Republicans, but simply as Americans.
