Editorial: The American experiment succeeds

America is often described as a great experiment in democracy.

We have now spent 233 years operating under the auspices of the U.S. Constitution. The experiment has been under way for long enough that it is less trial and error and more pattern and tradition.

In 1796, we wondered if that first time one man stepped down and gave way to his successor would succeed. Was George Washington what made America work, or was it the Constitution? The plan on the parchment showed the way through.

In 1800, the first ugly electoral dogfight happened over the presidency. Was it something that a fragile, teenage nation could weather? It was.

Twenty-seven times, we have made amendments to the Constitution, acknowledging that we had grown and changed and the document that shaped our nation had to grow and change with us. They were not easy decisions, and making the changes was not an easy process. We made it happen.

And every four years, we have the opportunity to start new. Sometimes we choose to stay the course. Sometimes we choose to change the captain. Regardless of who we choose or why, on Jan. 20, there is a new chance in that moment.

We have that new chance today with the inauguration of Joe Biden.

The nation is angry, but it is not broken. The nation is scared but it is not lost. The nation is strained to the point where its fabric is thin and frayed.

But it is not torn as it was during the Civil War when Lincoln gave his second inaugural address just 41 days before the Confederacy surrendered, urging Americans “to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves.”

We have held on through wars on our shores and abroad. We have stood tall during changes that ripped us apart at the seams. We survived secession, depression and aggression.

And we have done it — each and every time — by finding more that joined us than fractured us.

That does not mean we must pretend. It only means we must prioritize. Do we value finding a way forward more than we want to replay the battles that lay behind us?

“At the end of the day, you’re supposed to shake hands and move on to the next game and make the game better for those that are going to come after us,” state Sen. Jim Brewster said after a hard-won, bitterly-fought race for the 45th District. The challenger, Nicole Ziccarelli, after the final court case decided the election, said, “I wish Sen. Brewster well when he takes the oath for a new term. … I am asking all of us to come together and support Sen. Brewster.” That is the expectation after every election.

This year, as it does every four years, our real New Year starts on Jan. 20. Our real resolutions should be, and this year must be, to do what is best for our nation more than what is best for a party or a faction or a fringe.

We can prove the experiment once more now. We can survive this tension. We can survive this transition. It is in our power and in our hands to do what Lincoln challenged us to do. We just have to proceed with malice toward none and with charity toward all and finish the work to bind the nation’s wounds.