The logical end of hyper-partisanship (i.e. being right to the exclusion of others)

The situation in Washington, D.C., could serve us all well for the next generation. We are seeing the logical end of hyper-partisanship or what I’m calling “being right to the exclusion of others.”

What does that mean?

It means two things.

First, it means that I believe only one of us can be right. One of us has to be wrong. Put another way: Rightness can only be on the side of one. If rightness is on my side, then it cannot be on my opponent’s side in the least. There is black and there is white. There is no gray area. So I work to ensure that I’m right or that rightness is on my side. My opponent must either agree with me or be all wrong. Compromise is impossible because “right” does not make deals with “wrong,” right?

Second, it means that I cannot and will not share any credit for success with you. If I believe I am right and you are wrong, anything we accomplish together may validate at least part of what you are doing. Since I believe I am so entirely right (and you, therefore, must be so entirely wrong), I must work to obstruct every opportunity you have to establish competence, credibility, and legitimacy. In my mind, any success you have is an automatic failure for me. Therefore I must not stop at simply being right and being successful myself; I must go to great lengths to make you fail and make you out to be wrong at every turn.

I grew up and spent the first few years of adulthood as a card-carrying, slogan-wearing Republican. I admit the appeal of the Rush Limbaugh wing of the Republican Party had something to do with my need to be “right to the exclusion of others.” I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian tribe that celebrated being “right to the exclusion of others.” I had a very low self-esteem that gave both political and religious “right to the exclusion of others” a very strong appeal.

In my 20s, however, I could foresee how political “right to the exclusion of others” would be a dead end. I, and people like me, were closing in on ourselves. We were arming ourselves inside a fortress-prison. We were becoming childish, mean, and paranoid.

“Right to the exclusion of others” harms everyone because it refuses to come to grips with reality. A diversity of opinions and people will always exist in politics. “The best is the enemy of the good.” The “right to the exclusion of others” crowd would rather go “all or nothing” and harm everyone–even themselves–than compromise and do a little good for all.

In politics, I believe that “something is better than nothing.” I could not be part of a group that insisted on “nothing is better than something.”

I left the Republican Party permanently in 2008 as I foresaw what is happening now. For the love of country and my fellow humanity, I could not continue to follow that (self-) destructive path.

I didn’t join the Democratic Party, but I did campaign for Hillary Clinton in 2016 (as did many current Republicans and former Republicans). My brief exposure to the Democratic Party revealed that it is no different than the Republican Party. “Right to the exclusion of others” is as much a part of being a Democrat as it is to being a Republican. My fear is that groups mobilizing to oppose the President’s agenda are as rabidly exclusive and uncompromising as the “Deplorables” at Trump rallies in 2016.

What forward-thinking, useful, valuable legislation is coming from the federal government these days? None. The two-year olds have taken over the daycare. Washington, D.C., is a food fight.

This is the logical end of hyper-partisanship, the “right to the exclusion of others” politics of the last 20 years. We’re hitting rock bottom.

The American people don’t have to take this. We have the power–yes! we still have it–to change things for the good of all of us (and for the world that looks to us for leadership). We don’t have to keep waiting for the political parties to get their acts together.

We can take control.

How?

First, citizens are re-discovering how to hold their employees (members of Congress) accountable. I’m ashamed to say that until this year, I never called called, emailed, or met my representatives in Congress to tell them what I (their boss) expect them to do for me in Washington, D.C. I’ve learned this year that when citizens tell their representatives what to do (or what not to do), their representatives listen and respond. If I don’t like what my representatives are doing in Congress, it’s just laziness if I don’t tell them.

Second, we need to elect a new Congress in 2018. I’m not talking about sweeping the Democrats back into power. I’m talking about firing most current members of Congress and replacing them with Democrats, Republicans, and independents who believe they’re all working on the same team for the good of all. I want members of Congress who believe that differences of opinion are the creative tension and opposable thumb that makes legislation better for all Americans. I suggest looking into the Brand New Congress movement.

Third, we each need to choose one simple thing we can do to expand our circle of friends to include people who see things different. We need to listen to each other tell stories about our lives. We need to be curious about each other. We need to break bread and drink beer and laugh together out on the patio. We need to spend time. All change in our country ultimately happens at the individual level. If we really want change, we have to change ourselves first.

“Right to the exclusion of others” is showing us its logical end. It’s up to We the People to make sure what is happening now in Washington is as far as it goes. Let’s take responsibility for changing Congress through better engagement with our representatives. And, if our current representatives insist on being “right to the exclusion of others,” let’s replace them with representatives who use creative tension to make better laws for all Americans.

Finally, let’s each take responsibility for our own attitudes and behaviors. What happens in Washington is merely the light or shadow cast by the inner state of the American people. Let’s tend the “little lights” at home and in the neighborhood so that the torch of our nation will keep shining brightly.