Con Law II: An illustration of the problem.

I just had a nice little heart to heart with my Con Law professor. Yesterday he came out in class and said a few things about the students who sit on their hands and say nothing. It was a not so thinly veiled shot at the kids who dislike his liberal rants but don't want to be harassed in class. Some of them went to the Dean. I wasn't surprised. It's just another example of the problem with U.S. Politics today.

You see... People hate each other. They don't just disagree, they hate, and classrooms like ours are only making the problem worse. You're going to create a divide when a professor stands at the front of the room saying things like "are there any [members of political party] who aren't evil?" or "I have come to the conclusion that all [members of a political party] are evil."

Some people say that he's just speaking his mind. Some say he's just telling it like it is. I say he's being an ass and he needs to take a look at the bigger picture. The gridlock created by partisan politics is a HUGE problem. On the large scale we have one half of the nation willing to do anything just to make sure the other half doesn't get its way. This is productive.

Let's take the most popular issue of the last few decades... Abortion... One side says, "No abortions, never, not ever, for no reason whatsoever." The other says, "Abortion when, how, where, and why I want. No notification, no consideration, no regulation." Does anybody really agree with eather side? Does anybody really feel that having an abortion is like ordering a burger? NO. Nobody wants to see an increase in abortions. Ask the folks at Planned Parenthood. Their whole goal is to promote education and responsibility so we don't have to have abortions.

Does anybody really believe no abortions ever? What about when it will kill the mother to give birth to a child that can not possibly survive? What about a 12 year old girl who was raped by her father? Do we really believe there is NEVER an occasion when abortion might need to be available as an option.

But those are the choices we're left with. Abortions for all or abortions for none.

Why is it so? Because nobody has enough respect for their political oponent to sit down and actually try to come up with a resolution that may require some compromise. We'd rather cut off our nose to spite our faces.

I think it sucks. I think it is up to those who stand in positions of authority to do something to stop it. People wonder how these talking heads with radio shows make money... It's because that's the culture we're promoting.

So here's my suggestion... Let's be big enough to be the first ones to exercise a bit of self restraint. Let's put away our pitch forks, swallow our hate, and recognize that this kind of division will only lead to the ultimate failure of our government.

Perhaps in a few years we'll have two or three candidates running for political office in this state who happened to attend the same law school. Perhaps they had spirited debates in class but still had a healthy respect for each other and a cordial social relationship. Perhaps they'll run tv ads about issues and not about how one candidate wears red underwear while dancing naked on a burning American flag.

Perhaps we'll have people talking about their differences rather than defacing signs in the stairwell...

Just a thought... Maybe I'm wrong...

Footnote

Wow... The Prof came out today and pretty much repeated our conversation. I will have to take back many of the horrible things I've said about him.