It was nice for a little while anyway...

The news has been on in the background all day today.  That probably isn’t a good idea.  I tend to flip the channels to hear what is being said by all the pundits.   When I think about it, one might a consider it a form of masochism, as I often am pained by what I am hearing.   Or, I remember a few years back I used to have to drive a lot in my job and I used to turn on talk radio, listening to stuff that would really irritate me – but it would keep me awake.   So maybe that is why I listen so much to some of these stations. 

Last night I was heartened though.  There was a show of true bipartisanship in an effort to actually serve the best interest of the country.   I enjoyed watching the vote count last night, not because I wanted to see a win for one party over the other, but because I really liked the idea of the number of “yea” votes on each side go up.   Maybe I missed it, but it really would have been nice to see the leadership of both parties come together at the end for a photo op and shake hands and pat themselves on the back.    

We’re not there though, and it didn’t last long.   Today there was news of the Hurricane Sandy victims not getting the vote they needed to provide the federal emergency relief that has always – always – been available to victims of these kinds of natural disasters.   Why?  Well, because it wasn’t politically beneficial for Speaker Boehner to bring it up – even though he had assured the delegations from the NY and NJ that it would be voted on today.  Speaker Boehner was concerned that it might inflame the Tea Party caucus. 

And then there was the Violence Against Women’s Act that was supposed to be an easy vote.  But no.  Though co-sponsored on a bi-partisan basis, it died.  Apparently it was “too supportive of immigrants, the LGBT community, and Native Americans” – again, not a favorite among the Tea Partiers. 

That particular vote brought back the memory of the failure to ratify the U.N. Treaty on Disabilities even though it wouldn’t cost a cent and Sen Bob Dole rolled into the chamber to show his support for the bill.   Again, it didn’t fit with the Tea Party agenda.  

Wow.  I just don’t know how much more “in your face” this group of people can be.  One New Yorker who lost his business as result of Hurricane Sandy said “they don’t have blood in their veins – they have ice water”.    

I personally am in favor of lively debate and I appreciate differing opinions.  I don’t think the same way as I did when I was a child, or a young adult.  I had my mind changed on many different occasions as a result of lively debate and listening to others.    Paul, in Corinthians 13 put it like this:

 

“ ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 

Some of the people I have loved the most, friends and family, completely disagree with me on various issues.  But my hope is that our disagreements don’t get in the way of what is really important to each of us – our connection, our commitment, our love and wish for the best of each other.  Unfortunately, that’s what’s happening in our Congress. 

Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist wrote "Democracy is not about achieving agreement. It's about figuring out how to live together when we don't agree,"  

For a while, it looked as though the victims of Hurricane Sandy would go to bed another night with no sense of relief or aid coming their way, but, bi-partisanship from political adults on both side rose up and finally won out.   Unfortunately, woman and the disabled from around the world will have to wait for the hope of this new congress.
  
My prayer is that both sides will begin again to focus on We The People.  One Nation-One People .