in an otherwise optimistic review of america<u+2019>s history of resilience in the aftermath of poor presidential candidates and irreconcilable national differences, joseph rago<u+2019>s <u+201c> history repeats itself as farce, then as 2016 <u+201d> (op-ed, nov. 5) cites george nash<u+2019>s worry that this year<u+2019>s election is being litigated over <u+201c>cultural and social disputes that are beyond pragmatic political accommodation.<u+201d> in fact, most political disputes in 2016 over culture, governance, economics and foreign policy are framed in moral terms that don<u+2019>t lend themselves to win-win or common-ground resolutions. it is not possible to spare the life of half of an unborn baby, give transgender americans access to half the bathrooms of their choice, etc. if states had not lost so much ground in their balance-of-power struggle with washington, there might be more opportunity for compromise. but courts and federal funding deals with states put washington in the catbird seat. our problems and divisions in 2016 have roots in election traumas of decades ago. our fiscal problems, for example, trace back to new deal programs that threaten to bankrupt us 21 presidential elections later. the 1960s counterculture revolution (a dozen elections ago) is bearing fruit today. moral issues of 2016 echo 1960s culture-war themes: civil rights, anti-war activism, gay liberation, feminism, the sexual revolution, environmentalism, class warfare and urban unrest. for the most part, post-1964 election morality is now the norm. pray that the left<u+2019>s plan to change our traditions and our history doesn<u+2019>t preclude history from repeating its postelection recovery from trauma, farce or indignity. paul bryan tarpon springs, fla. mr. rago cites amity shlaes who says, <u+201c>we live in lyndon johnson<u+2019>s america,<u+201d> a fact that makes comparisons with past presidents almost meaningless. our post-1965 culture is dramatically different from what went before. we now value diversity over assimilation, groups over individualism, political correctness over freedom of speech, security over liberty, big government over the constitution, etc. americans today oppose the use of military force, preferring drone strikes and elite units regardless of their effectiveness. this all started in the 1960s when the baby boomers took over from the greatest generation and <u+201c>feeling good<u+201d> became the dominant measure of life. forget social mores, discipline, morality: just do whatever feels good. fifty years later, our universities prohibit speech that might offend. america no longer resembles the times that mr. rago<u+2019>s experts describe. rather, late republican rome provides a more valid comparison. the presidential election result has shown us that the politically correct culture we see all across the media is not the culture of most of the nation, and donald trump <u+2019>s election offers an opportunity to redirect the nation along more traditional lines, which the election has shown most americans want. lt. col. fritz mehrtens, usa (ret.) irvine, calif.
moral frames make political comity harder - wsj
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