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Some MAGA loyalists have turned on Trump. Why the rest haven’t

Some MAGA loyalists have turned on Trump. Why the rest haven’t

America Is at an Impasse. What’s the Breakthrough?

America Is at an Impasse. What’s the Breakthrough?

Iran’s Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi Believes in Iranian Regime Change — Experts Contradict Him

Iran’s Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi Believes in Iranian Regime Change — Experts Contradict Him

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The Problem isn’t Masculinity – It’s the Men Modeling It

Luke Combs: The healing power of “The Great Divide”

Luke Combs: The healing power of “The Great Divide”
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David L. Nevins
By David L. NevinsNov 17, 2023
David L. Nevins
David L. Nevins serves as publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action. He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.” He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
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David Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

I was watching the 2023 Country Music Awards last week and was struck by a song near the end of the awards ceremony, “Love Can Build a Bridge”.

This song written by Naomi Judd, Paul Overstreet, and John Barlow Jarvis, and recorded by American country music duo The Judds was released in 1990.

Yet, the lyrics are as powerful today as they were when they were written over thirty years ago. As I listened to the lyrics, I thought that it must be a song about bridging the divide that is separating our nation.

Love can build a bridge
Between your heart and mine
Love can build a bridge
Don't you think it's time?
Don't you think it's time?

I would whisper love so loudly
Every heart could understand
That love and only love
Can join the tribes of man
I would give my heart's desire
So that you might see
The first step is to realize
That it all begins with you and me

But I was wrong. I was quite surprised to discover that the song by Naomi Judd was dedicated to the Judd family and fans as a goodbye, as at the time, Naomi was chronically ill with Hepatitis C and was forced to retire. While the song was not at all political, its message about the importance of always standing together is a lesson that our nation surely must learn.

The audience was obviously moved as Jelly Roll and K. Michelle sang with power and obvious emotion and I couldn’t help but think that country music could serve as a powerful force to bridge the divides that are separating us as a nation.

So, I did a bit of research and discovered that in early 2021 famous country singer Luke Combs wrote and performed the song, “The Great Divide,” that connected politics and country music. At the time, Combs told The Rolling Stone that the song was an interpretation of the conflict and tension we had been witnessing at the time he wrote it.

The lyrics speak powerfully to the conflict in America:

We're striking matches on the TV
Setting fires on our phones
Bearing crosses we believe in dying on
Tempers flare, the flame flies higher
As we soar closer towards the sun
But I like to think too much damage ain't been done

We're all so far, so far apart now
It's as deep as it is wide

We're about to fall apart now
If we can't reach the other side

Other country superstars have spoken out about finding common ground. Garth Brooks was widely criticized by many of his fans for performing at President Biden's inaugural but fended of the criticism with this message of unity:

"I'll tell you with this whole presidential thing: We got one going out. Pray for him and his family. And for the president going in, pray for him and his family to guide this nation," Brooks said at the time. "Let's stay together. Love, unity -- that's what it's all about." He continued, "We can't thank the Obamas enough for serving this country," he said. "And may God hold Trump's hand in the decisions that he makes in this country's name as well."

Listen to both “Love Can Build a Bridge” and “The Great Divide” and see if you feel the amazing healing and connecting powers music can have on us. And just imagine how if this energy for good were amplified and scaled.

Jelly Roll and K. Michelle Perform "Love Can Build A Bridge" at the The CMA Awards

Luke Combs’ “The Great Divide”


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“We Can’t Afford It” Is Never an Acceptable Excuse To Deny Independents a Vote

DC voting rights advocate Lisa D.T. Rice criticized the DC City Council for failing to fund Initiative 83’s semi-open primary system, leaving 85,000 independent voters unable to participate in taxpayer-funded primaries despite overwhelming voter approval in 2024.

Photo by Getty Images on Unsplash.

“We Can’t Afford It” Is Never an Acceptable Excuse To Deny Independents a Vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lisa D.T. Rice spoke before the DC City Council during a Budget Oversight Hearing on May 1 to talk about Initiative 83, the semi-open primary and ranked choice voting measure she proposed that was approved by 73% of voters in 2024.

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Americans are questioning whether they have enough resources and support to raise a family in the nation's current political landscape. Julie Roland examines the contradictions of "pro-family" politics in America today and the kind of care mothers are owed to safely and successfully raise children.

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The Trump Administration Has a Mommy Problem

My mother, who died of breast cancer when I was 18, had me when she was 32. This past Sunday, I turned 33, childless. As I officially fall behind her timeline, with no plans to have kids anytime soon, I look at the landscape of 2026 America and have to ask: Who can blame me?

The decision to start a family is a difficult one. J.D. Vance said on his first day as Vice President that he wants “more babies in America,” but many Americans simply can’t afford to have kids anymore. Perhaps that’s one reason why this administration is offering $5,000 “baby bonuses” just to incentivize birth, while also banning abortion in every way they can. But becoming a mother should be a choice. I was the result of an unplanned pregnancy–and I’m lucky my mom decided to have me and that she turned out to be the best mom ever–but as Miriam Rabkin, MD, MPH, put it: “if you want mom to be happy and healthy, she needs access to contraception so she can choose if and when to get pregnant!” Instead, this administration seems to think that if women won’t elect to have children, they should try paying them, and if that doesn’t work, then they should just force them.

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Religious leaders hold a press conference at the Episcopal Church Center.

Religious leaders hold a press conference at the Episcopal Church Center to outline plans for implementing the recommendations of President Johnson's riot commission. From the left are Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, president of Inter-Religious Foundation for Community Organizations; Rev. Albert Cleage Jr., pastor of Detroit's Central Congregational Church; Rev., John Hines, co-chairman of Operation connection, and Rabbi Abraham Heschel, of New York's Jewish Theological Seminary.

Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Not Forgotten: The Need To Continue The Work of Black-Jewish Legacy

An aggressor shouting “Free Palestine” choked a 32-year-old Jewish man near Adas Torah synagogue recently in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood in LA.

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America's Political War Is Costing Trillions: An American Union Could Fix It

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America's Political War Is Costing Trillions: An American Union Could Fix It

America’s long-standing political conflicts increasingly carry an economic cost that is rarely discussed. Research on economic policy uncertainty suggests that sustained political instability can readily reduce national economic output by 1–2 percent or more of GDP through reduced investment, hiring delays, and lower productivity.

In an economy the size of the United States, that represents hundreds of billions of dollars every year — roughly the economic output of an entire mid-size U.S. state.

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