I continue to be amazed at the amount of rhetoric coming from our rightie friends in response to
my call for openness, for a willingness to try new things. As I
said Tuesday, the more the related comment threads develop, the more my points are proven.
This wasn't my plan. I wasn't trying to set a trap. Still, some people fell into one.
What lessons can we - Democrats
and Republicans - learn from exchanges like these? Is there a way for us to come together and work toward a common goal? Or will we remain a nation bitterly divided? While the jury is still out, what's already apparent is that we must continue to have these types of dialogues if we are to progress as a nation. What's also apparent is that the truth will set us free.
Do I think that America is too bitterly divided to ever heal itself again?
No. I do, however, get the sense that nerves are so frayed that many out there don't see the point of trying to bridge both sides of the aisle. I
haven't given up hope yet, but I have found that there is a sizeable minority of Americans who refuse to listen to reason. This minority, coincidentally, is roughly the same size as President Bush's approval rating.
These people see down as up, white as black, day as night. They see death and destruction in
Iraq, yet wish to see the "good news," as though it were magically there somewhere. They read that their government may be
spying on them, yet they reason it away because, you see, they've got nothing to hide. They watch as Bush lies about the disastrous after-effects of
Hurricane Katrina, yet they blame the victims. In short, they're so wrong they refuse to recognize right when it's staring them in the face.
Of course, no sooner will I make those arguments than a Republican reading them will angrily reply that there's simply no budging
me, either. While this is, to some degree, accurate, I would argue - and I think my friends on the left would, too - that we are rather flexible when presented with truthful evidence and well-reasoned arguments. Notice what I said. I didn't say "the opposite point." I said "truthful evidence and well-reasoned arguments."
Far too often, progressives get painted as inflexible when the arguments supposed to convince us otherwise are angry, profanity-laden, fact-free indictments of ourselves, our values and our political philosophy. For instance, do you
honestly believe that "Liberals are angry" or "Liberals have no ideas" will convince any of us to change our points of view? Further, the "evidence" I've found myself confronted with of late has been, for the most part, either partially or completely inaccurate.
Accuracy. A very important concept. But one that is often absent in the political realm.
Why? Why are sites like Media Matters and Think Progress so important? Why must a great deal of progressive talk radio and shows like Keith Olbermann's consist of truth-squading the right? Why do we spend a great deal of time rebutting assertions with cold, hard facts?
Because the truth matters. It matters that there are myriad opinions, yet it matters more that there can be only one set of truths.
Many people these days - found quite often on the right - don't recognize that fact. They take their lead from pundits and politicians who believe that he who shouts the loudest is the most correct. This is wrong, of course, but it's why incompetents like Bill O'Reilly can even share a stage with someone like Paul Krugman. It's also why you see more of Ann Coulter on cable news than, say, Joe Conason. Not because the O'Reillys or Coulters of the world are right - they're not - but because producers know what sells. And sadly, the truth doesn't sell as well as a well-packaged lie.
So which is more important, reaching across the aisle or reporting the truth? Without a doubt, the answer is reporting the truth.
Why? Because doing the latter does the former. High-ranking Republicans aren't angry about the lack of "good news" from Iraq because there's so much to report. They're angry because they're seeing the negative effects the truth is having on America's approval of their party.
On more than one occasion, I've spoken with friends who happen to be Republicans and, frequently, we agree on a lot of the issues. There's power in this agreement. There's the power to truly change for the better. There's the power to heal the bitter divide apparent in things as seemingly innocuous as a comments thread on a progressive blog. There's the power to do great things. The Republicans running America fear this power, which is why people like
Karl Rove work tirelessly to keep us apart.
But it doesn't have to be that way. And the truth is what will set things right.
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