The Republic is crumbling

I was forwarded the text of a most un-Gore like Al Gore speech. Instead of ruminating on his creation of the Internet or espousing the text of his rather Unabomber like book (and if you have never taken the test where various statements are laid out for you to choose who said them, Ted Kuzynski (sic) or Al Gore...you might find it shocking. Gore terrifies me.), he actually was articulate, intelligent, and made sense most of the way. At some point when I have a shade more time I hope to write about it.
This, however, is yet another anti-politician rant. I bet you did not see that one coming. One thing he said in there was he feared the Republic (or Democracy, have not read it for a couple of days and my memory, like the paint on the Sistine Chapel roof, is fading) was in trouble.
Note to all of you politicians who since the day Washington left office have been saying that. Remember when Hamilton said it was crumbling because of Aaron Burr? Burr killed him with the same pistol that killed his son. And even though Hamilton was the anomoly who had a true Treasury surplus...not more money coming in that was owed but actual saved money with nothing owed...when Hamilton was killed, the Republic kept marching along. Jefferson's machinations caused his opponents to say the Republic was in trouble, yet the country expanded under his watch.
Around 1812 half the country was screaming for war...the other half was screaming that war would be the last straw, the Republic would crumble. Ironically, half the country was accusing the other half of being cowardly and that if the country did not stand up for itself the Republic would crumble. One pointless war later, the country kept growing.
When Jackson was kept out of office through illicit means people saw it as a sign the Republic was in trouble. Four years later when he essentially created the party system to get in as President, people were screaming the Republic was crumbling. Again, even under Jackson, the country grew.
Under Lincoln the Republic did crumble. Lincoln...you may have heard of him? Considered one of the 3 greatest Presidents by virtually every historian...put the Republic back together. Of course, under Johnson it again teetered on the edge of crumbling. He avoided impeachment by what...one vote? And the stated reason for that vote was because he thought to impeach Johnson under those circumstances would have ended any semblance of Presidential autonomy.
Soon, the nature of the election of Rutherford B Hays brought forth something never before heard in the country...people crying out the Republic was in danger. Sound vaguely familiar yet? Ironically, the one election where the Republic WASN'T crumbling was Al Smith v Herbert Hoover. No, the country was going along swell. Of course, the Great Depression began with Hoover in...the only time the Republic wasn't crumbling the toughest period in our history occurred.
Naturally, previously the Republic was crumbling over the entry or not into WWI, because of the argument over whether Europe had to repay their war debts or not, and so forth. The New Deal was, of course, another opportunity for the Republic to be crumbling, as was the audacity of Roosevelt to seek a third and fourth terms...of course to his opponents the Republic was crumbling. First a Depression with a capital D, then a brutal world war...and the Republic was crumbling because he was setting himself up as a king they cried.
The Republic was crumbling beause a Catholic got into the White House, because the Communists had missiles in Cuba, because people of various colors were marching in the streets demanding civil rights, because the music was bad, the hair was long, the sex was wild, the hips were swinging too much.
The Republic was crumbling because the U.S. was in what many people believed to be an unjust war. The republic was crumbling because a President had his people misuse the office to ensure something he wanted. (Re-election, if that is too subtle.) The Republic was crumbling because he was pardoned without ever being convicted. The Republic was crumbling because abortion became legal. The Republic was crumbling because gas prices were spiraling, drug use was an epidemic, and literacy rates were down.
Oddly, after all these times when the Republic was crumbling, it was the Soviet Union that broke apart at a time when the U.S. was experiencing an economic boom.
The politicians who are not in power need to be Chicken Little. If the sky is not falling they have no way of looking better than the opposition. The Democrats have been saying things are bleak since Bush took office. The Republicans had said it the prior eight years. The Democrats were at it the prior 12 years. The Republicans were doomsaying the previous 4.
I call shenanigans. You want to hear why? How about this; under Reagan, my life got better. I made more money, was able to do more things with it. Under Bush I, my life got better. Under Clinton, my life got better for most of it. There was about a year where it didn't, but you know what? Overall, it got better. And under Bush II...my life has gotten better.
I have not been devastated by a bad economy, a brutal war, spiraling drug use, etc. Nope. have not personally encountered hardly any of it. The sky hasn't fallen, the barbarians aren't breaking down the gates, the Inquisition hasn't had any people as nightlights festivals, and I am not running in fear for my life as people in some of the "enlightened" countries do.
In short, when the Democrats are in the White House in a couple more years and the Republicans are saying the Republic is crumbling, it will be just as much applesauce as the people saying it now. Sure, things could be better, but the bottom line is this; the Republic is just as good as it ever was.