Venom in Politics

Yesterday morning I was talking to an acquaintance and she brought up the troubles she was having with medical problems. In just two months her family has had to deal with three unexpected major surgeries, and she was saying bitterly how hard it was making ends meet.

"Sounds like you could use some help," I said.

"You better believe it," she said.

"You must be in favor of Obama's health plan, then," I said.

Her face hardened, her lips tightened, and she glared at me for several seconds before finally replying, "I could NEVER be in favor of anything that came out of that man's mouth!"

I wrote about a year ago about how saddened I was that people with opposing viewpoints are treated with such venom these days. That conversation yesterday reminded me of this. I don't have a problem with her not liking Obama's overall liberal viewpoint. I don't have a problem with her not liking the currently proposed health reform bill (I have some problems with it myself, not the least of which is that I don't think it does ENOUGH to help people like the person I was talking with). What I DO have a problem with is her dismissing the plan without even considering it just because Obama was the President while the bill was being proposed.

This kind of negativity is nothing but bad for the country. And it's ultimately destructive. I would even go so far as to say that someone who won't objectively study and consider ideas proposed by our leaders--regardless of which party that leader is from--is unpatriotic.

I don't care whose flag they're flying from their porch.