Compromise, anyone?

Our country is busily tearing itself apart with one side calling the other deplorables or socialists, and promising to do whatever it takes so that “our” side can finally win, once and for all. We are busy making plans to eliminate the filibuster, put the opposition leader in jail, pack the Supreme Court or have the Supreme Court act as an unelected “super-legislative body” to impose on the other side actions that we are not able to implement through traditional congressional voting.

I’m old enough to remember when our country saw itself as either center-left or center-right, and politicians who were best able to work with others across the aisle were most likely to win elections and stay in office. Perhaps it’s time to look deeply into why things are currently going so badly in America and see what changes can be implemented to fix things.

In my opinion, political gerrymandering is the major cause of our current problems, and ending it is the obvious but not easy solution. Continued overreach by both sides will only drive us further apart, so it’s time for both parties to actively investigate moving their platforms back toward the center. The one who makes this move most effectively may well be the one who attracts the most future voters.

And while we are at it, how about pushing our media providers to tone down their rhetoric and add some opposition pundits to their payrolls and their programs. We are seeing the results of a full-out fight, and we don’t like what we see. What have we got to lose by trying compromise instead?

Arthur Rosenfeld, Norfolk