There is nothing wrong with the term “Liberal” or that one is “Conservative.” They are merely terms that help us understand one another’s position on various issues impacting our nation. (And they are not just political issues.) Unfortunately, to justify their/our position, each makes a case in the negative about the other which rarely convinces anyone. Showing people how wrong they are encourages deeper entrenchment. That is why we are so divided over our government. We are prone to “face” someone with their wrong headed approaches to problems that plague us all and we tend to be convinced that if the “other side” would only listen to us and our position all would be improved. It will never happen.

The goal of a democracy is to work with and manage a wide variety of opinions while seeking to implement the majority view. All of this is done while trying to respect the views of the minority. A very tough job. If, in the middle of majority implementation one is criticized the party criticized tends to put up barriers to communication so as to deflect the arrows of discontent. There must be a better way than crossing swords each time we disagree on how to run our government. I believe open communication and compromise are tools that can make this happen. Without them it is impossible to move forward. We need to listen to each other. Barbs, expressing frustration and discontent with someone else’s position, accomplish little.