Some years ago, I traded a couple of letters with a prominent political figure.
No names, but by prominent, I mean he served as Vice-Very-Important-Office for eight years and was elected Very Important Office by the American people before having the position yanked and awarded to his unsuccessful rival.
At the time, our country had engaged in an illegal military incursion in a nation which had done us no harm, a war of choice based on economic interests and a fantastic reboot of the Great Game which promised to impoverish and demoralize our own land while decimating the civilian population of our victim. (The adventure lived up to that promise handsomely).
I asked, pleaded really, that this prominent figure speak out against this injustice, reminding him of the respect and credibility he enjoyed among the American public. His response, though it dismayed and frustrated me, was entirely proper and, in the end, only increased my respect for him.
He reminded me that, under our laws, our country has but one commander-in-chief and that, in times of international crisis, we must offer him and the troops he commands our support, doing what we can to affect policy through our representatives but remembering always that, past the water's edge, only one voice matters.
This week, as scores of our current president's opponents bang war drums and accuse the current commander-in-chief of being "feckless," "weak," "indecisive" and worse, I can't help but think of that letter, the disappointment and eventual acceptance it brought me.
I understand this isn't going to change, that, for the current GOP, politics never ends, not at the water's edge nor even, literally, below the First Lady's belt.
Nor do I entirely believe that prominent figure was entirely correct in his initial reticence to object to the policies executed by the people who sat where we voted to place him.
But his response to my complaint exemplified an instinct of patriotism that has become, in our time, elective. Where once statesmen at least hit the pause button on rabid partisanship in times of crisis, now it feels as if there is no water's edge and disputes once limited to a few block of Penn Ave. are now fought anywhere, however far away and fragile.
No, it's not going to change. But at times I rather wish it might.