In 1914 the Irish novelist James Joyce published fifteen interconnected short stories in a book titled The Dubliners. The collection of stories described the early 20th century life in dreary Dublin for the middle class. They gave an unflinching bleak portrayal of Irish life with spiritual and moral paralysis, corruption, unattractive human behavior, and disrespectful dialogue about the King of England.

One summary of the book stated that the three themes were paralysis, corruption, and death. Another reference pointed out that Ireland was then the poorest and most undeveloped part of the British Isles in that era.

We read The Dubliners in a high school English class. As part of a vocabulary lesson we had to list words from the book that started in D and had a negative meaning. The list as I remember was quite long as Dublin seemed to be dreary, dark, decaying, disrespectful, disgusting, and dumpy.

Over a year ago after Texas Representative Al Green – a Democrat – was quite disruptive at President Trump’s State of The Union Address there was a letter published in a Coulee Region bi-weekly newspaper taking the Democrats to task for their disgraceful behavior. Of course, this incident wasn’t the first as we all remember the then Speaker of the House Pelosi – another Democrat – dramatically and disrespectfully ripping up President Trump’s State of The Union Address speech a few years earlier. The letter in the local paper drew a rebuttal which commented “the pot calling the kettle black” and I have to admit some Republicans don’t have a spotless behavior record either. But, in comparison, well, there is no comparison!

Consider recent news headlines over the past few months. Think about the newly elected Socialist-Democrat Mayor of New York City. Think about Governor Walz of Minnesota and his Attorney General and the widespread rampant fraud. Think about the Democrats that refused to stand during the President’s State of the Union speech in honor of citizens of the United States and several American heroes. The Senate Democrats owned the lengthy government shut down and again are now preventing the funding of the Department of Homeland Security. And, the Senate Minority Leader (Sen Schumer, D-NY) even said the Republicans should step aside on this issue. Someone needs to remind Sen Schumer of President Obama’s famous words: “Elections have consequences” – and in this case, the Republicans have the majority. And, the list goes on.

Another news item that you may have missed is there is a New York City Borough President who is a far-left Democrat and a friend of the new NYC Mayor who wants to ban Newsmax from the city’s privately owned taxis. This as a flagrant attack on the First Amendment to the Constitution and shouldn’t be tolerated!

It seems that a lot of these Democrats act like they might be descendants of Dublin immigrants (and I have absolutely nothing against Irish immigrants, the Irish, or legal immigrants.) Yet, not all Democrats appear to have come from Dublin. There are some fine Democrats that can put their personal politics aside and put the country and our fellow citizens first. After Election Day they can remember their partisan priorities but patriotically work to represent and lead all of “we the people” to benefit the entire nation and all the (legal) citizens.

A couple of examples are the relationships that President Reagan – a Republican – and Speaker O’Neill – a Democrat – and that President Clinton – a Democrat – and Speaker Gingrich – a Republican had. The two men in each example certainly were not “best buddies” but certainly put partisan priorities aside for the good of the nation. Another relationship that I haven’t heard about in years – maybe decades – is when Congressional leaders of both parties routinely visited the White House or the President made an informal visit to the Capitol.

The current Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, though working in a Republican administration, was a former Democratic Representative from Hawaii. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the current Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), previously ran as a Democrat for President. U.S. Senator Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, seems to sometimes put country over partisan politics to the chagrin of his Democratic peers.

The Democrats are talking of impeaching Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. About six months ago there was an AMAC poll asking about the major personnel and policy changes that he was making at HHS and almost 85% of the over 38,000 participants supported his actions. Another 10% had mixed feelings leaving less than 6% that were opposed or unsure. Why would the Democrats want to impeach a Cabinet Secretary with an 85% approval rating –except for purely partisan reasons?

While we are justifiably down on the Democrats, we still need to remember that some Republicans’ behavior isn’t always the best. As we approach the 2026 campaign season let’s all ask all the candidates what they are going to do to put patriotism over partisanship after the election?