Steve Cameron: Are we splitting in half?

A friend of mine just called from Britain, and he was distressed.

"Mate," he said, "I think your country is broken."

Normally, your first reaction to a comment like that -- before you even think about it -- would be to defend the United States.

I started to respond, and then just sighed.

My pal is right.

What's happening, and what the rest of the civilized world is watching with growing dismay, is the United States splitting in half.

I used to love watching political shows on TV, most particularly panel-type programs with lots of give and take among advocates of various programs and positions.

But that type of discussion is just about dead.

What you see now are two sides -- like the Hatfields and McCoys -- lined up on opposite sides of a growing divide.

The election of Barack Obama, which should have been one of the greatest healing moments in the country's history, instead has had the opposite effect.

The Republican Party has taken a position entirely new to this country.

Rather than helping to govern, in what historically has been known as the role of "loyal opposition," out-of-power Republicans instead have decided to put party ahead of country -- and so they refuse to participate.

No matter what bills are proposed and how much good they might do an obviously ailing country, Republicans vote "no."

On most issues in the U.S. Senate, it's all of them.

And because of arcane parliamentary rules that dictate Senate action, a unified minority of 40 senators in this 100-member body can stop anything even from being debated -- let alone brought to a vote.

So what you have is total gridlock, and Republicans consider that a "victory" because it gives them a chance to claim Obama and the Democrats couldn't fix the country's problems.

We've reached a point where the good of the people, those same people Republican Abraham Lincoln once claimed owned their government, has been tossed into a passing Dumpster.

All that matters is politics.

Getting elected.

Getting re-elected.

Pocketing all that money from lobbyists representing massive corporations, thieving banks, even foreign governments.

Yes, I realize this sounds like I'm picking on Republicans -- but only because they happen to be the ones who have ground the government to a halt.

Maybe it would be ugly either way.

Now that the gloves are off, perhaps Democrats will do the same thing when Republicans regain control of the White House, or Congress, or both.

And they will, because if gridlock is a permanent condition, angry voters will continue to toss out whoever's in power.

The pendulum will swing back and forth, voters raging with nonstop fury, and the United States will become ...

Well ...

It'll become California.

Citizens in the other 49 states are now getting a taste of what it's like to live in a place that cannot be governed.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor, and then re-elected, as a hugely popular figure who talked about common sense and seemed above partisan bickering.

Now he's considered a bum who couldn't win an election for dog catcher.

Schwarzenegger hasn't changed or done anything wrong. He was just crazy enough to believe California could be fixed -- and it can't.

Democracies were meant to be governed by majority rule.

But California requires a massive super-majority to pass any legislation -- and now on the national scene, Republicans have used the threat of filibuster to make 60 the "new majority" in the Senate.

End of democracy.

End of government.

And never mind what happens to us, plain old citizens.

I'm afraid my pal from Britain is right.

Do you see any light at the end of this tunnel?

Steve Cameron writes for the Sun-Star. He can be reached at stevecameron1000@gmail.com.