Where is that soapbox when you need it?

As the political season enters the home stretch, it's not uncommon for ads and attitudes to get nasty. The nicest of people mutter profanities at the television commentators (you know who you are). Arguments are rarely instructive or constructive, and attacks seem to get personal. In our bipartisan society, it's important to remember why our two-party system has been successful for so many decades. At the core of it, we are all Americans who basically have the same goals with radically different ideas about accomplishing them. If we at least respect others' intentions, we stand a much better chance of arriving at solutions instead of band-aid legislation.

I'm going to use an old adage here to illustrate my point.

"Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime."

I kind of see the democratic side as giving the man a fish, and the conservative side as teaching the man to fish. The liberal sees a hungry man and wants to help him now. Our republican friend gets nothing but grief as he walks off; but he's not heartless, he's going to buy that man a fishing pole. Everyone wants to help the fellow. If our liberal friend doesn't feed the poor man, he may not have the strength for the longer haul. If conservative Jo doesn't get the fishing pole, the poor man goes hungry again tomorrow. Not always, but usually, our ideas don't have to conflict.

When we remember to love our neighbors as ourselves, and do our best to understand another's motivations before we begin the debate, we remember to argue instead of attack. We'll start to take the best ideas from either side, instead of the most mediocre from both.