How do they do it? I am frequently surprised by the way the extreme right thinks. I don't think of myself as naive. But in this regard, I must be.
Life is full of decisions to be made. Decisions are made at the individual, family, neighborhood, school, town, county, state, and national levels. My experiences have been fairly normal at many of those first six levels. The primary concerns expressed by the parties involved have been varied. Who will benefit? Is anyone left out or harmed? What will it cost? How can we work together to get this done? What seems to drive the decisions at the most fundamental levels is cooperation and getting the best results for the most people.
As a public school teacher of many years, decisions always had to be made for the maximum benefit to the most students and the school. Administrators, parents, and community members also played important roles in those decisions. It always seemed to me that cooperation and results drove the process leading to reasonable and good outcomes. Seldom did the integrity, motivation, or sincerity of the participants come up.
As you get into the higher levels of state and national, the questions of cost and who benefits seem to be the main issues. Now another question is arising more frequently than before. That is the question of "How can we beat them?" It's as if every issue in politics is a huge us-against-them challenge match to the death with no holds barred.
My brain doesn't work that way. I don't think it does for most people. Most people live and work with those who share in the decisions made in their lives. It is important to maintain civility and good relations with them. It doesn't seem that way at all when you get away from local politics. Instead, I hear attempts to destroy, discredit, and eliminate the opposition with whatever means will succeed. Most of those tactics are from the GOP side.
Why does it bother me so much? You'd think I would come to expect it. Maybe I should fight back with the same tactics. That's troubling, too. I catch myself reacting in negative and angry ways, doubting and suspicious. It feels wrong. So, time after time, I am caught off guard by the tactics. It sure seems like we are going in the wrong direction.
Where is this going to lead? How will we move past it?