There used to be a time when disasters brought Americans together. In my lifetime, some have done so. I remember well the assassination of John Kennedy and how, for a time, we all mourned as a country, not as parties or sects. One of the most enduring memories is not of a talk show host mouthing insults but of young John Jr. saluting his father's coffin.
Then there was the bombing of the federal building it Oklahoma City. As the dust settled over the carnage, President Bill Clinton offered soothing words that convinced us that we would prevail though the gates of Hell had opened to offer us a peak.
For years, disasters damaged us but created harmony. When one part of the country suffered, we all felt pain.
Then there was 9-11. For days we joined hands and resolved that we were one. Then, as the smoke cleared, someone saw an opportunity for partisanship. It took us to a strange place. It eventually led us to a war that unsettled a large part of the Middle East and we still search for ways to overcome the effects.
The awful experience of the Covid pandemic showed us that the forces of evil will utilize a natural catastrophe to divide good people. Americans died needlessly because of the divisiveness but a political party gained traction which now threatens to destroy the America that once mourned together. It's a damned shame. What would the Galilean say?
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