Today I am not sure that I belong to either of the Americas that I witnessed in D.C. I am not far right or far left on any issue. I believe that I am part of the true majority in this country, those who live somewhere within two standard deviations on the bell curve of social and economic issues. I know that effective democracy and debate can’t be just about talking—there has to be a listening part, too. This nation was founded by people who disagreed about many things, including whether we should have even become a separate nation. However, through all of our troubled times, we have remained one nation, one America, even after being nearly torn apart by a “civil” war. Our greatest moments in history have been realized when we put aside our differences and faced our enemies and challenges together. I am concerned that we are now becoming a “pendulum nation,” swinging wildly back and forth to political extremes as politicians in both parties attempt to garner the support of the loyalists on either side. The media, which should be a voice of reason and a vehicle for education, has become a morass of pandering sound bites, trying to win the “gotcha” arms race. America is not strengthened by rhetoric and name-calling by anyone on either side of a political issue. America will prosper when we listen to and respect each other as people, as Americans.
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ACEP Now: Vol 36 – No 02 – February 2017Dr. Cirillo is director of health policy and legislative advocacy for US Acute Care Solutions in Canton, Ohio, and chair of the ACEP Federal Government Affairs Committee.
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4 Responses to “Attending President Trump’s Inauguration Leaves Emergency Physician–Political Junkie Disheartened”
February 19, 2017
June McMillin, MDI agree, most of us are in the middle. I did participate in the Women’s March in the city that is closest to me and did not see the burning or the rant by Madonna. Our march was great. There were a lot of issues expressed with less vitriol and more positivity than the march in Washington. I haven’t marched in 40 years and I met some wonderful people who said the same thing. Some of the people who I met were Trump voters but they had concerns that they joined in expressing. All in all, it was a wonderful experience and reaffirming that the American people still have a voice which they are willing to use.
February 19, 2017
Robert Margulies, MD MPH FACPM FACEP FACFEKudos Dr Cirillo.
Rational, lucid and compelling.
Honest,relevan and civil debate are core values.
The “women’s march” was none of the above..
We all know who was left out and why.
One side screaming is not a debate.
We can advance the legitimate agenda of medicine when we are intellectually honest and willing to evaluate the other sides statistics. Both sides!
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February 23, 2017
David Zodda, MDIn response to Dr.Cirillo’s “Not My America” I have the following comment. While I applaud your efforts to offer a moderate spin on both the presidential inauguration and the women’s march in Washington D.C., I don’t fully agree with your premise that the ‘true majority’ of our country live somewhere within two standard deviations of the bell curve of social and economic issues. If that were true, we would not be in the political situation we are now. Our current administration represents the extreme far right of the bell curve for it promotes an agenda of religious intolerance, racial inequality, and isolationism. If we choose to align ourselves with this administration’s platform than we can no longer decry that we sit in the middle and represent the beliefs of the majority of Americans. To paraphrase the words of Howard Zinn, “You can’t be neutral on a moving train.” Our forefathers taught us that democracy is not a spectator sport and we as Americans have a responsibility to speak out and engage when the rights of others are marginalized and threatened. See you at the next march!
February 28, 2017
NNWe are ‘one nation under God”–I just wish we would act like it. I became so disenchanted with partisan politics that I became an independent voter nearly 4 years ago. The significance of being an American seems to have been lost, now it is simply used as rhetoric to obtain a vote. I’ve always believed that differing opinions can be healthy and at times it can force a spirited dialogue. The political parties have forgotten that it is possible to meet in the middle, especially when it is in the best interest of the country. Instead, it has become about who is right and who is wrong.
Ultimately, it is the voice and vote of the people that will make effective change, as it always has. Just as we can place our leaders in office, so can we remove them if we deem them unfit to lead a country. The Constitution was based on that premise. We seem to have forgotten that also.