To Debate Is American

When I was in high school, I remember debating my Republican friends about the political issues of the day. Should abortions be legal? What domestic programs should be funded by the government? What rights should workers have? How much government regulation is appropriate for our free market? The topics we covered stretched for miles. Although some of us were barely old enough to vote, we were passionate about our positions. 

But here's the thing. We were also civil to each other. I may not have agreed with my friends on many issues. Quite the opposite. But at the end of the debate, we were still able to set aside those differences and go back to being teenagers. 

Look where we are today. The current President has systematically pitted us against each other in a way that makes debate impossible. I can no longer debate my position with my friends or family members. Instead, there is a very real danger that feelings will be hurt to the point we're we will leave the conversation worse than we started.

Part of the problem is that we have little to no chance of changing each other's minds. That's because the current President has declared a full and complete war against the idea of a fact. Instead of facts, we are left with a bunch of opinions that can't be evaluated for their correctness. 

This is an unacceptable trajectory for our nation, and it is one we have to fix. We need to be able to enter into a debate, with the possibility of changing each other's minds, with seeing the value of a dissenting opinion, and with a renewed agreement that facts exist. We need to acknowledge that there is a continuum between "mere opinion" (i.e., chocolate is the best flavor of ice cream) and solid, empirical facts (i.e., covid has taken more than 200,000 American lives). 

To get on path, we need to vote out the current President. We need to restore decency, civil debate, and respectful disagreement. We need to vote in Biden and Harris so we can start the healing process. 

Where Is Our Common Ground?

 

Democrat v. Republican | Liberal v. Conservative | Red v. Blue | North v. South

American politics are defined by these dichotomies. You're either for us or against us! You're either American or un-American. 

Honestly, that's not even close to who we actually are. Since the very inception of our country, we have always been a loosely connected, ragtag group of immigrants who have been trying, against all odds, to survive. 

Our genius was realizing that we couldn't survive alone. Instead, we had to see past our differences and band together. It might be the case that you're from Virginia, and I'm from Pennsylvania. But it doesn't matter. If we were going to survive, then we need to stick together. These American states are, and will always be, United.

They are united because we all believe in the following: 

1. The Constitution is the law of the land. 
2. Every citizen has the right to vote. 
3. Every citizen has equal protection under our laws.

All elected officials must take an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution. If that elected official's speech or action consistently and repeatedly fails to uphold their solemn oath, then it is our responsibility to remove them from office. To fail to do so is the same as saying, "The American experiment is over. Democracy was a fun experiment, but it just didn't pan out." It admits that self-rule is not a viable form of government.

I don't think any of us is ready to throw in the towel on democracy just yet. Instead, it's time to vote out the politicians who fail to protect The Constitution, actively suppress our right to vote, and feel they are not beholden to the same laws as the rest of us. To do otherwise is to admit defeat. 

We are not yet defeated. In this moment in history, it is up to us to vote out the autocrats and despotic rulers. It's time to remind them that we all still believe in these three ideals. They are our common ground. It's what unites us.

Democracy will not die on our watch. 

The American Wringer

9/11    |    The Financial Crisis of 2007–2008    |    Corona Virus 

Let's face it. As a nation, we've been through the wringer. In the past 20 years, Americans have endured unthinkable tragedies in form of terrorist attacks, a global financial crisis, and a pandemic. Each disaster is worse than the last. At the onset of each disaster, American leadership has sought to minimize the impact and hasten our recovery. 

That is, until now. The current president has, in no uncertain terms, told us that we have to "live with it." Of course, nobody can just live with the corona virus. Instead, it has killed approximately one quarter of a million Americans. We can't just "live with it" because none of us have the same level of healthcare that the President does. Therefore, millions more Americans are going to get sick, and many of the infected are going to die. The President signaled to us that he doesn't care. We just have to deal with it. 

So here we are. Just nine days before the election. According to the polls, the race is close. Millions of American have fallen for the President's on-going con, which is a complete and total contradiction: Everything is fine, and only he can fix it. 

We also know that the President is is actively suppressing votes and rigging the election in his favor. These are acts of a desperate man because he knows he can't win in a fair election. 

But why does the President want to stay in power? He hates his job, and it's evident in everything he does. One hypothesis is that he needs this job so that he can continue making millions of dollars from direct lobbyists [1]. He also needs to stay in office because he learned, via Robert Mueller, a sitting president can't be indicted. 

So what's going to happen to us? What's going to happen on Election Day? If the President loses by a landslide, will he concede? Will there be a peaceful transfer of power? Will he appeal his loss to the Supreme court? How will they rule?

We are in an agonizing limbo that isn't likely to end on November 3rd. Instead, mail-in ballots are going to need to be counted, and that is going to take some time. There will also be accusations of voter fraud on both sides. 

If the outcome is that the President is re-elected, then Americans will be forced to endure four more years of his divisive, caustic, hateful rhetoric. Any sort of restriction on his behavior will be completely removed because he won't be campaigning for re-election. He will undoubtedly test the limits of his power by doing whatever he wants. Many of the freedoms that we enjoyed before his Presidency will be gone. Only straight, white, male Americans will be safe (and even that statement is debatable). 

But if, by some miracle, he loses, then we have a different challenge ahead of us. We know that nearly half of the voters, i.e., those who backed the current President, are going to be angry and feel resentment toward the other half of America that voted for Biden and Harris. We need to repair the damage that the current President has enacted on all of us. But how will we move forward, as a nation? How will we learn to appreciate our differences? How will we become less racist and more tolerant? How do we ensure that this never happens to us again? 

There are so many open questions. I just hope that on November 3rd, we put ourselves on the path toward building back better.