The necessity of divorce

So how did it happen? How could Donald John Trump have been acquitted of being a Major League Asshole … and the most blatant abuser of power in American history? The customary answer is, Republican senators, fearing the wrath of Trump and the disfavor of their constituents, turned their backs on their country. True enough, but it’s simple-minded to then say, “Well, too bad … they’re cowardly weasels,” and leave it at that.

Fear of their constituents is no illusion. A Gallup poll, conducted before Trump’s acquittal, reported he had a job approval rating of 49%, the highest of his presidency. This share of the electorate — once as low as 37% — is at the root of our national shame. And we’re locked in a bitter embrace with them! We’re like an incompatible Catholic couple who are dead set against divorce.

Yet divorce is our only plausible option. Trump will be gone one day, and the Republican weaklings in the Senate will gradually be replaced. But the people who put them in office, or rather the values of these people, will not go away. Their progeny will carry their values forward, as will our progeny carry ours.

Here, then, is a plan for a divorce. It is by no means the only way forward. Many variations will result in a separation.

Step 1: Gestation. The necessity of divorce gradually becomes part of the national conversation, with an emphasis on a peaceful process and the benefits for both sides. (See my last post.) When this happens, a number of candidates for national office will eventually support it.

Step 2: Congressional Support. A member of either house calls for a joint resolution that endorses a “Two Americas Proposal.” The proposal would ask for two conventions, a Red States’ Convention and a Blue States’ Convention. (The “color” of a state would be determined by the party with the most registered voters in that state.) The resolution needs only a majority vote to pass.

Step 3: Drafting of Constitutions. Each convention drafts a constitution modeled on our current United States Constitution, with a preamble and articles that define the branches of government, the rights and powers of the states, the means of amendment, and the relationship the two Americas have with each other. This last article specifies such things as agreements about trade, the disposition of Washington D.C., and the apportionment of foreign and domestic military bases. The language of this article must be identical in both constitutions. Therefore, the conventions must appoint a joint committee to draft it.

Step 4: Publication of the Constitutions. Both are published on the Internet and as free booklets. For the next two months, they are read and discussed in public meetings and in the media.

Step 5: Registration of U.S. Citizens. To ensure that presumed Red and Blue States are still so disposed, everyone has a one-month opportunity to re-register or register for the first time.

Step 6. Congressional Consideration. The congresspeople from Red America, Representatives and Senators, debate the Red Constitution. The leadership of the drafting convention may be called to testify. Amendments may be discussed and agreed to. Subsequently, a vote is taken. A two-thirds approval is needed for the constitution to go to the Red States for ratification. The congresspeople from Blue America follow the same procedure. If both constitutions are approved, the full House and Senate set a time limit for ratification.

Step 7. Ratification. Two-thirds of the Red States and two-thirds of the Blue States must approve their respective constitutions for America to be divided into separate nations. America remains a single nation during the ratification interval.

Step 8. Implementation. If the separation is ratified, the new nations are given nine months to prepare for independent operation. In this time, they hold federal elections nominate supreme courts, pick cabinet heads, and establish executive departments. On the state level, new state constitutions are drafted and state elections are held. New court appointments are made only if the new state constitutions make it necessary. During implementation, the current United States Constitution, with its government branches and courts, remain in effect.

No doubt, these steps will will have to be amended and refined, but something much like them will be necessary. The most difficult step, of course, is Step 1, making divorce part of the national conversation. In great part, it will depend on a deeper understanding of political history than exists today. Peoples have merged and separated throughout history, at first by conquest and, in modern times, by rebellion or mutual agreement. They will continue to do so as new ideas and events make it practical. When they separate, they do so for the same reason that most couples separate — irreconcilable differences. That precisely describes the sad state of our union.