Washington Post: Uniters and Dividers

Another spot-on analysis. See what you think.

Kentucky_Ohio_Bridge-0d9f5-1405Kasich does not accuse the police of bigotry, nor dismiss the concerns of minority communities whose relationship with the police has been strained and broken by recent events. Instead, he talks about what he can do to make sure everyone’s concern is heard and to emphasize America works when everyone feels like he or she has a chance for success.

He does not sound like many on the right who insist on drawing sharp lines, or whose concern for the poor and minority voters appears entirely opportunistic and selective (yes on drug reform, silence on an opportunity agenda; ignore them until you decide on a White House run). He surely doesn’t sound like the media and politicians on the left who talk directly to and solely on behalf of aggrieved communities, as if the problem is the rest of the country. In showing solidarity with the one segment of America, the knee jerk reaction is to condemn the rest of the country and the “system.”

These are the dividers, the people with sharp elbows and blinding political ambition. It is not strictly ideological: Right-wing talk show hosts, MSNBC talking heads, tea party politicians, Al Sharpton, Mayor Bill DeBlasio, and Attorney General Eric Holder all play the game, a dangerous and cynical one in which they “win” (votes, readers, viewers, attention) while the country goes up in flames, the government is torn asunder over excessive posturing and outside groups make money off of strife. They suffer from an over-abundance of ambition and a near total lack of empathy. Their world is narrow and self-serving.

Read it all.