Civil Discourse

Recently I have had an uptick in friend requests on Facebook. Some of these come with no shared friends so I automatically delete these. Those with shared friends, I have lately been accepting. I look at some of the friends and if I spot a troll or two, I delete the entire request.

However, the increase in negative reactions to my posts tell me some of these ‘friends’ are really trolls in disguise. Their messages almost always blame democrats for the nation’s problems, or the pandemic being mismanaged, or how the republicans in the past attempted to control this issue but were out gamed by democrats. I doubt that happened; democrats are not good at gaming in the first place!

What these messages tell me is an election season is about to launch and the party propaganda is gearing up. The tone of the conversation is the first clue this is happening. It saddens me because the issues I write about are shared by all of us and commonsense solutions are needed for our common good. This is not political. This is public issue management.

It is best accomplished among people who are sincerely trying to articulate both the problem and its effects, while considering possible solutions. Those solutions need articulation, too, and thus the complexities multiply. Nothing, however, will be accomplished if we don’t get beyond arguing over words and phantom meanings.

The future of our communities is at stake. The future of our region, state and nation is at stake. The complexities of the global community are also at stake. With gamers tossing in their mixed messages, propaganda, misdirection and confusion, nothing much can get done that is good.

Immigration is a good example. Immigration defines America. It is who we are. It is how we became us in the first place. Blocking solutions to massive immigration problems doesn’t improve on the problems. Congress can and must do better. This arena is fully in the authority of Congress, not the President. He simply administers the programs authorized and funded by Congress. End of story.

A bi-partisan effort is needed to remodel our immigration laws, processes and systems. Deaf ears and immoveable hearts are signs of partisanship. Power mongering and financial rewards are their goals, not workable solutions that continue the vision of American values.

It is time to fix the broken immigration system. Perhaps Congress needs to simply step aside and follow the lead of a bi-partisan commission?

March 24, 2022

 

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