But in the year since I was fired the political pressure on Americans to be politically correct, to never stray from the party line, and avoid saying anything that someone may call offensive continues to polarize the country.
Americans across all political, social and racial lines tell me they resent this political straitjacket. They know that if they speak their mind, admit their fears, hopes, feelings, they risk being told they are not a good Republican or not a good Democrat. They fear being told they are not a good Christian for their views on abortion; not a good Jew for their views on Israel; not a good black man if they question President Obama; not a good Muslim if they condemn Islamic terrorism without any qualification. At every turn, people fear being told they are lacking in principle for simply avoiding political boxes and opening themselves to listen to the other side of an issue and engage in honest debate…
A New York Times/CBS poll found more than four out of five people surveyed said the debt-ceiling debate was more about gaining political advantage than about doing what is best for the country. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed said the debate had harmed the image of the United States around the world. Standard and Poor’s cited the “political brinksmanship” over the debt ceiling as their main reasons for downgrading the U.S. credit rating.
The result is a crisis of political leadership caused by disgust with the lack of honest debate. Three-quarters of Americans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. The root of this disapproval is that Americans feel their leaders don’t speak honestly about the big issues: how to reduce the debt, how to boost employment, how to reform schools, how to fix the broken immigration system and more.
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