Lacking unity

With just over a year before the all-important presidential election, who could have imagined that the top two contenders in many polls are Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders?

Seriously. Think about that for just a moment. Donald Trump, a boisterous businessman sadly short on specifics, and Bernie Sanders, a card-carrying socialist who believes our national problems stem from the lack of a larger federal government.

So the central question is how did we arrive at this unusual position where "traditional" candidates are being universally shunned and mavericks are winning the day?

And not just mavericks but polar opposites on the political spectrum who have gained support with radically different visions of America.

The problem is unity or lack thereof.

The strength of a nation often revolves around a national purpose or unity. It's simplistic to say but true nonetheless -- we are stronger when we are unified and weaker when we are not.

The portrait of the current political landscape is a glaring lack of unity on any and all topics.

Three quick examples:

When there was universal agreement that our national health care program was failing, President Obama proposed and then implemented a radical top-heavy national health program that has divided this nation to this very day.

There was never an attempt to bring unity to that important discussion. For all practical purposes, the conservative voices in this national discussion were ignored.

On the quagmire in the Middle East, a war-weary nation wanted some measure of relief from the ongoing daily headlines.

But the administration's approach was to ignore the advice of the experts on the ground and remove our troops, creating a vacuum that bred ISIS. There was no consensus that this was the right approach and no attempt to bring any level of unity to this decision.

And more recently, yet another example of gun violence erupted last week, and the lack of unity over what solution to explore was abundantly obvious.

President Obama quickly repeated his oft-used gun control speech despite massive evidence that his heavy-handed solution would have no impact on similar tragedies.

We can't seem to find unity.

We were united following the 9/11 attacks. Political affiliation evaporated for the greater good, and the United States stood as one.

There was some level of unity when the "shock and awe" bombing put the world on notice that this great nation was united in our purpose.

But today that unity is sorely missing.

Conservatives blame the president for his "my way or the highway" approach, and liberals blame the GOP for steadfastly opposing these fundamental transformations.

But finger-pointing aside, the lack of a unified purpose in our national dialogue is far beyond troubling.

And I strongly suspect this lack of unity is why, at this point, we have such radically different front-runners in a presidential election.

There is but one certainty. Under the current administration, there will be no unity because these competing visions of America are so far apart that no level of compromise will be sought or offered.

And this is why elections have consequences.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Sikeston Standard Democrat.