I think we all need to take a breath and pause, especially in times of high stress such as the ecomonic challenge our nation is now confronting, and reflect back upon what this whole American experiment was about; and renew our commitment that NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS we are all AMERICANS in this boat together.
My "union" is America, and our charter is the American Declaration of Independence.
"TO SECURE THESE [individual] RIGHTS, governments are instituted among men"
That is the scope of purpose for which we must all, individually, be eternally vigilant to be sure our government is constrained within; lest governance itself become a self-worshiping, self-serving bureaucratic monster, take on a life of its own, and enslave us all; becoming the master where, as Jefferson noted, "COMMERCE BETWEEN THE MASTER AND SLAVE IS DESPOTISM".
So the challenge before us, Americans, is to move forward while looking back with that fixed purpose "TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS" as a reassuring reference point of light. Each of us reassuring the other that it's still there and has not moved.
When you Firefighters flex your will collectively in these civil "budget negotitiations" your body is so large that it's easy, from the perspective of the individual civilian, for that land mark to become obscured behind you - even though that is not what you intend.
This fearful perception is amplified by the Marxist/State Communist features and associations of the current POTUS.
How can this perception be corrected? We Americans KEEP TALKING. We keep communicating with each other.
The 1st amendment is not, as the Obama Administration has called it "a distraction" - no, my fellow Americans, it is our lifeline to each other.
We keep talking.
The point of American light is still there.... I see it... one more step forward... lets go.
