WASHINGTON — — — — — — — — MCLUHAN — — — — — — — — WILSON

REJECTION OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM

George Washington:

In 1796 the first President warned the United States about the dangers of what he termed Spirit of Party. Or, in less diplomatic terms — Irrational Conviction.

In his Farewell Address Washington predicted the two parties would pose more of a threat to the Union than the split between the north and the south. That prediction is in evidence today. We see it in the phenomenon of red states and blue states. They clearly do not belong to one and the same society. They are so completely at odds with one another as to form utterly disparate nations.

The Spirit of Party Washington explained, “…is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.”

He went on to describe Spirit of Party as, “A fire not to be quenched.”

Thus, it is something that people are not in control of. And party affiliation is not, contrary to popular opinion, freely chosen and based on a well reasoned judgment.