Feed the Coast Guard Because the Federal Government Can’t

I was in the grocery store picking up a few items and saw a man filling his cart with packages of hamburger. I commented to him, “You must be having a very large gathering.” He replied, “No, I’m buying this for the Coast Guard.”
Last week, Al Campbell’s column talked of the pleas going out for assistance for Coast Guard families due to the shutdown.
What is our nation coming to? People go to work for the federal government never doubting that it will carry out its end of the bargain and pay them. There is a fundamental disconnect when our government cannot be relied upon. How did we get here?
For things to work smoothly and reliably, people have to work together to a common end. It is not that way in our country currently. We are divided and becoming ever more so. We used to be better able to talk through our differences. We have always been a nation of conservative and liberal citizens, but we were always able to sit down at a negotiating table and come to a compromise which all sides could live with. That ability has become very strained.
We are even now hearing, if you don’t like what the other person has to say, shout him or her down. If you don’t agree with a speaker, disrupt the gathering, or get them disinvited. Or, if a professor doesn’t hold this or that point of view, get them fired.
Can we all pause for a moment and agree that we share citizenship in the most wonderful country in the world? On that basis, can we agree to be friends who have differing points of view? When we refuse to talk to others, we are treating them like irreconcilable enemies. When nations treat other nations like enemies, a natural outworking of that is sometimes war. To avert war, nations sit down at the table to try to work things out.
What we did with this shutdown was war in another form – each side testing the strength of the other. Reasonable people assess the strength of the opposing party via argument, via negotiation, not tests of brute strength. When we stoop to the level of testing the other party’s savage strength, we have crossed over a line which is difficult to reverse, and we give hotheads a platform from which to mislead the public.
Look back at what happened in our Civil War. Tensions built; hotheads gained control of the argument; the flashpoint was reached, and a needless war was fought.
Let’s bring that to the shutdown. President Obama was elected and many on the right were so upset and some said, “He’s not my president.” Then the tide turned; President Trump was elected, and some on the left are saying, “Impeach him.” Further, this is devolving to the point where some states won’t cooperate with federal law enforcement. What we are creating, in little steps, is disunion.
We can say, it’s not a big deal, but it is. The police can tell us that you don’t ignore a little problem in a neighborhood, or you have a bigger one tomorrow, that can lead to a  situation which becomes totally out of control.
What is most important to us – that we preserve our wonderful nation, or that we win this or that fight? President Trump can win the fight over the wall, but can do so in a way that waters seeds of disunion. Likewise, Congresswoman Pelosi can win hands down, but cause those who believe a wall is necessary to feel vanquished.
What is the antidote to growing division? Put the nation first. Let’s elect representatives and leaders who will negotiate a broad consensus. Further, we must insist that our children learn civics and seek to understand all sides of an argument.
Yes, we have challenges. So what; we are adults, and adults work out problems. We are divided. We were divided in 1861 and lost control. We can reverse the present divide with level heads. The adage, a stitch in time saves nine, applies here. A stitch today can prevent a tear tomorrow.