Bipartisanship
For years, Democrats have been in denial about how low-down and intellectually dishonest their Republican counterparts can be. Time and time again they have given conservatives the benefit of the doubt in discussions and debates , only to find out that their apparently rational positions were just a front and that the next day they would be right back in lock-step with their party talking points.
The right has used a layered approach to deliver their message – from the president right down to the talk radio freaks, they have all been unmovable in their opinions and positions, and no amount of logic or factual evidence has been able to move them one bit. Each layer being a bit more wild-eyed and loose with the facts, but all singing to the same tune. This may have worked for a while – Democrats tend to argue amongst themselves more and therefore are less effective at hammering home their positions with the public. But the problem is that when you engage in good faith debate with someone, you extend a trust and a promise – the trust that your opponent will not use dirty debate tricks (we all know what they are from when we were kids) and the promise that there is at least the possibility that you will alter your view based on the other side’s presentation. Like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick, conservatives have broken the trust and the promise time and time again. Even now, when we find a conservative who will call out Rush Limbaugh for being the lunatic he is, we are shocked by the exception of a Republican going off-script.
Along with whatever political and social views conservatives have held in recent years, they have also had as part of their profile an aggressive, win at all costs mentality. I find it disingenuous when they complain over even a fraction of that kind of mentality being directed back at them.
I, like President Obama, have a very deep well of faith in people, and still hope for them to do the right thing, but I also understand people who are ready to attack anything Republican or conservative. You can only fool people so many times before they become hostile toward you and any others who march under the same banner, though some of them may be decent folks.
If we are to unite people of differing political and social views under a banner of common interest, it will take people with the courage to continue engaging their opponents in an honest fashion. Those people will take more hits and be called more names, and must be willing to call out a fool – be he of their own party or the other.
I hope we can all shed our many “ism”’s and look to tending to the things we all hope for – peace, freedom, prosperity, and good health. There is no need to layer ideologies on top of these things – they can stand on their own.