I remember laughing at this sign on a colleague’s desk when I began teaching in  1974:  “No Enemy Would Bomb this Place and End  this Confusion!”  It was hilarious, a sign that would have been at home on my desk, too. Today it seems less funny.

Bob Dole’s comments about today’s Republican Party remind us of a time when Congress was all business. There was plenty of politics and partisanship, but even during the Reagan Revolution there was a collegial effort to get things done. The Clinton administration managed to curtail Welfare and strengthen law enforcement, accomplishments that Republicans would take pride in. There were shared achievements despite the public invective about the President or the opposing party.

Today the federal government is so demonized in some parts of the country that Congress has devoted 37 votes to dismantling the Affordable Health Care Act just to please their angry constituents. The name of the President of the United States has been used to poison anything that right wing politicians want to denigrate. Appointments to Cabinet positions have been stalled for months, not even getting the courtesy of a vote on the Senate floor. Judge appointments languish for years of obstruction. In Senate investigations, Senators harass witnesses ruthlessly to show how tough they are.  There’s a sense that you can’t be too nasty when dealing within anyone who works for the federal government.

Most dismaying of all, the 2012 election did not change anything. The vote that affirmed President Obama and gained votes for the opposition party across the country also brought the most bitter and vituperative voices to Congress.  The stronger the mandate, the more savage the attack on government.

There are true political divides in Washington: you can’t expect Congress to agree on issues of principle, such as abortion, gun control, taxation or environmental regulation.  But even these issues have been managed through compromise, giving in order to get.  Even those who play hardball have to throw something into the strike zone eventually.  The new minority throw everything high inside or low outside. There is no game, only gamesmanship.

Richard Haas, a lifetime devotee of foreign service,  has recently pointed out that our greatest enemies are at home.  If we continue to turn fire on our own system, we will only destroy what others have fought and died for.  American voters need to send the message that government must operate in good faith and constructive purpose.

There is no virtue in dismantling a democracy, because it allows compromise in order to function. We have the sad example of the aborted Arab Spring to learn from.  We may be a more mature democracy, but we could also be a decaying democracy.  Voters should demand more collaboration from their representatives so we do not stagnate into the American Autumn.