Let’s be honest. 

Nobody is coming to kill grandma with death panels, nor do Presidents Bush or Obama deserve comparisons to Hitler.  The Left is not trying to turn America into a communist country.  The Right is not trying to turn America into a libertarian paradise with no government.

It’s just not happening.

These kinds of simplifications of complex issues have contributed to the deep political divide that has emerged in America.  This “us vs. them” mentality has compartmentalized society so much that it is far simpler to think of our political opponents as Hitleresque figures bent on the total destruction of our country than recognize that their policy proposals represent the real concerns of wide segments of our citizenry.  Does anyone seriously think that President Obama is planning to systematically exterminate 9 million old people (and invade Poland in the process) because he supports giving healthcare to 30 million American citizens currently without coverage and raising the marginal tax rate to what it was back in 1998?

Take a step back and a deep breath.  This is America, not Democrat-land or Republican-land.  Our country has been so successful because historically we have been able to recognize that despite our differences on policy, we are all in this together.  When Rush Limbaugh says of President Obama, “I hope he fails,” he ignores the fact that if the Obama administration goes down, so does America.  Rush may not agree with some policies of the administration, but to make such a blanket claim is irresponsible and poisons public discourse.

This immature attitude toward politics has emerged on both sides of the aisle.  Should the Democrats have pushed through healthcare reform without a single Republican vote?  No.  Should the Republicans have stonewalled healthcare reform at every turn without engaging in meaningful policy debate?  No.  Should the fact that the divisive vitriol of political commentators has invaded the halls of government worry us all?  Yes.

Irreconcilable rhetorical government is not what the Founding Fathers envisioned when they drafted the Constitution and Bill of Rights.  Our government is based on the idea that the majority must protect the rights of the minority.  This protection is necessary because the majority and minority are both required for society to function, no matter how much we would like to ignore this inconvenient truth.

Underneath all of this back and forth is, as the New York Times’ columnist David Brooks has pointed out, a debate about values that has been carried on for years but that recently has become secondary to political ends.  As Brooks says, politics is fundamentally a “debate about what kind of country we want America to be.”  Value-centric issues naturally carry with them very deep emotions, so arguments about them should be aired and debated freely, but responsibly.  Today’s irresponsible and untruthful arguments prevent constructive political dialogue and legitimate articulation of American values. 

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.  We have called by different names brethren of the same principle.  We are all republicans – we are all federalists,” we are all democrats.  We are all Americans.

Let’s start acting like it