The David and Goliath of governance (originally written Jan. 15, 2017)

On January 20th, America will not only have exchanged Presidents, but also moved 180 degrees from an administration that was ideologically-driven to one rooted in pragmatism. According to many critics, we will have taken a Goliath-sized step backwards and are simply trying to re-create the bygone era of Ronald Reagan when there was such a thing as tough leaders and power was something to be proud of rather than apologize for. Republicans agree about the myth but disagree about the effects.

Maybe this is what sticks in the craw of Democrats today, the fact that their forward momentum has been halted and their pilgrimage toward the utopian politics of the collective has been disrupted after eight years of an administration, seen with conservatives' eyes, that crashed through the fortifications of the Constitution while chanting "Yes, we can" and that did everything in its power to discredit the half of America that said, "No, we won't." After Friday, the rhetoric that characterized everything Mr. Obama touched will drift away and the clouds that have been hiding the country's real challenges will part as we embark on a journey to find the truth about who we really are and what we really need to do, together, to reclaim our birthright as Americans.

These kinds of social expeditions are not for the faint of heart. Neither is there room for the spinmeisters or the obfuscators. Journeys of this sort demand the speed of a gazelle, the strength of a lion and the skin of a rhinoceros. The patience of Job and the courage of David are also required as the Goliath of big government, with all its power, pushes back. It will not go down easily, certainly not with a single slingshot of resistance. The new Administration must move, quickly, to cut off the head of the snake of special interests and entrenched single-issue oriented groups from both the Left and the Right if it is to survive and achieve its objectives. The American divide was not born yesterday, nor will it die easily.

The new President and his cabinet will be exposed to great personal and professional vilification and be opposed with every press release they issue, every utterance they make and after every decision they take. They must be prepared for relentless name-calling, innuendo, fake news and incessant propaganda. Our new leaders' collective resumes and experience show us that they have what it takes to do the job and that they will not be bullied by belligerence nor deterred from their mission by subversion from the Left. If history teaches us anything, it tells us that there will be times during the next four years when the new administration's forward progress will be stopped cold in its tracks. When that happens, it will need to find the courage to compromise on those aspects of their plans that will improve them for all Americans. In short, they must find new common ground both inside and outside their own party.

The next four years will see our country remake itself using a new version of the Cold War era's realpolitik . Decisions will be based on real reality not the hypothetical reality of the last eight years. The Obama Administration's policies have taught us one lesson of near Biblical proportion...putting up impenetrable walls between the parties doesn't work for the good of the country because walls also separate the honest brokers of reason in both parties from one another.

Stephan Helgesen is a retired diplomat and now political strategist and author. He has written six books and over 600 articles on subjects ranging from politics to economics to social trends. He can be reached at: stephan@stephanhelgesen.com