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State of Disunion
The longstanding State of the Union tradition is under threat from political polarity in 2023. Why?
“The choice is between normal and crazy.”
It was one of the most memorable lines gleaned from the 2023 State of the Union Address.
The words, spoken not by President Joe Biden but by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders — who was chosen to deliver the Republican rebuttal — provoked head nods from both sides of the political spectrum and everywhere in between.
It was probably the only time during the whole night’s events when conservative right, progressive left, and moderate center agreed wholeheartedly about anything.
Of course, which side is the normal one, and which the crazy, is a matter of great debate. The answer largely depends on who is viewing the issue from which side of the widening ideological abyss dividing American politics in 2023.
Moderates, independents, libertarians, greenies, and others without a true home in today’s bifurcated political laity agree even more wholeheartedly: They think both sides are crazy.
Like their more moderate counterparts, progressive Democrats are certain the Republican Party has gone completely off the deep end into Donald Trump land never to return. Unlike their middle-road-dwelling contemporaries, however, they…