Political parties throwing out the baby with the bathwater

"A republic, Madam, that is if you can keep it." Those are the words spoken by Benjamin Franklin following the Constitutional Convention in September 1787, when asked by Elizabeth Willing Powell, "Well, Dr. Franklin, what do we have — a republic or a monarchy?" Franklin and his fellow delegates to the Constitutional Convention recognized that the form of government they created was very fragile and required and an enlightened moral citizenry for its preservation, which they believed to be about two generations or forty years. A free people require a responsible people. The projected lifespan was approximately correct when John C. Calhoun, senator from South Carolina and vice president, challenged the existence of federal government in 1830 with the notion of "nullification," reasoning that since the federal government was a creation of the ratifying colonies the states of 1830 had the right to negate their approval. If it were not for Andrew Jackson's — a popular southern president — opposition to nullification, Calhoun may have succeeded. But I digress. The Founding Fathers we so admit about an enlightened moral citizenry that when drafting the Northwest Ordinance (or the Ordinance of 1787) the delegates decreed that Section #16 of every new township be committed to the establishment of education reasoning that a learned citizen was one capable of reading the "Good Book" and one who read the "Good Book" was a moral person and a moral person was a good citizen. One provision of the ordinance declares, "religion, morality and knowledge being necessary for good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of instruction shall forever be encouraged." An enlightened moral citizen is necessary for the preservation of a free democratic republic. This belief has survived the test of time and will continue to serve a free republic. The greatest test to the Republic came with the Civil War, when Lincoln affirmed that "Government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from this earth." Might I add, "as long as we have enlightened moral citizens." George Washington, in his farewell address delivered in September 1796, warned against foreign alliances and political parties, emphasizing the need for national unity and the dangers of factionalism, believing that unity was essential for survival and prosperity. Many of the words of the Founding Fathers are as relevant today as when the words were first published. Today, political parties seem hell-bent on throwing the baby out with the bath water. With the destruction of the opposing political party, they would destroy the Republic. Political parties should watch what they wish for; they may inherit the whirlwind. Richard Highfield Port Clinton