Without USSR we just fight with ourselves

The Cold War officially came to an end in 1989 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics collapsed. The Democratic and Republican parties, no longer focused on a common enemy, resumed conflict with each other.

The perpetual clash of conservatism and liberalism continued, not between Communism and capitalism but between two political parties, one manifestly fragmented and the other doggedly cohesive.

The Democratic Party has been at war within itself, with liberalism, progressivism, moderation and various other labels that keep many voters home and others voting for the opposite party.

Another general election defeat could end its existence.

The Republican Party has abandoned its conservative label and no longer represents the era it impressed upon the nation at the end of World War II. It is now endangered as a viable political party, one that this democracy desperately needs to survive.

Does this country need a formidable foreign adversary to remind us of the Preamble to the Constitution - to form a more perfect union and keep it so, to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty for all of us regardless of our political affiliations?

James D. Cook

Schaumburg