Several years ago, I took a trip to Australia at a time when there was an extremely contentious battle for the United States Presidency.  When an Aussie asked me about the political situation in the United States I would always answer, “I really don’t know.  I am a Canadian.”

In a couple of weeks I will be in Canada taking a trip on the Rocky Mountaineer Train with my son and daughter-in-law, and once again the U.S. is in a heated battle for the Presidency. So what can I say if a Canadian asks me, “What’s going on with your politics in the United States?” I can’t tell him, “I am a Canadian.”  I guess I will have to say, “No Habla Ingles.”

I must admit that, for me, it’s difficult to understand how we, as a Nation, have come to the point where people who don’t agree politically can’t still have amicable political discussions and then agree to disagree—while still remaining friends.

A few weeks ago, I invited my new neighbor and his lady friend to my apartment for some wine and cheese before we went downstairs for dinner at one of the restaurants. I didn’t know him well but was alerted to the fact that he is a Republican…as a matter of fact at one point he had made a run for Governor of Arizona.  I met him at the door and said, “I’ll be your Tip O’Neill if you will be my Ronald Reagan. Laughter brought us together and the three of us are still friends.

Tip O’Neill was the Democratic Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives—a political rival of President Reagan. However, they engaged in a real life friendship, and after disagreeing and fighting about issues everyday, they would still meet at 6:00 p.m. for a drink almost every evening.  Their ideological differences did not interfere with their friendship. They were both men of good intentions who strived everyday for the common good for the people of this  Country.

Tip O’Neill was one of the first people to visit President Reagan in the hospital after he was shot. The Speaker Of the House wept and fell to his knees at his friend’s bedside. He then prayed the words of the 23rd Psalm.

The United States is still a relatively young Country whose people have built a remarkable Democracy with a brilliant Constitution written so very long ago. We still need a strong two-party system with honorable people who truly love this Country and will put the welfare of its people above their own ambitions. Consequently, I have always voted for that kind of person no matter of Party affiliation.  

When I lived in Georgia, I could not vote for a bigot like Lester Maddox, so I voted for the other guy. When Maddox was interviewed by a reporter who asked what should be done about the abysmal conditions of Georgia prisons, Maddox said, “ What we really need is a better class prisoner.”

Abraham Lincoln said it best when he said, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

So  what’s it going to be????     Esther Blumenfeld