For those who don't closely follow the ins and outs of politics, Flake is a conservative Republican senator from Arizona who is not a fan of President Trump.
But that's not why Flake is a new hero of mine. My admiration stems from his new book, "Conscience of a Conservative," which I randomly came across in the library. Flake's criticism of Trump has dominated news headlines, but what impressed me more was his cogent diagnosis of how intolerance, hyper-partisanship and just plain nastiness is poisoning our political and cultural life.
The condition has been growing for years and seems to become worse by the day. In a nutshell it's seeing people who disagreed with you politically as enemies, deserving of only contempt and ridicule.
This sense of tribalism is not only unwise; it's un-American. As Flake notes: "We ill serve the American people when our tribal impulses take over, and we cease to have human responses to each other."
Liberals can blame the rancid atmosphere on the "politics of personal destruction" pioneered by Newt Gingrich and a right wing hate machine that loves nothing better than demonization.
Certainly, that's part of it. But, my liberal friends, don't think intolerance is the sole prerogative of the right. What about the intolerance of so-called "progressives" on college campuses who want to shout down, or shut down, speakers with whom they disagree? What about the contempt shown by vandals who defaced the statue of Christopher Columbus in Binghamton? I'm sure they felt they had a lock on the truth. They don't.
I'm not naïve enough to think this polarization is going to end any time soon. People are too willing to lock themselves in echo chambers that just reinforce their previously held opinions. But I believe we could all use a little self-examination. I include myself in this, by the way.
Here are some steps that, in my opinion, we all can take in this self-examination:
•If you're a liberal, make it a practice to read two conservative columnists every day. If you're a conservative, make it a practice to read two liberal columnists every day.
•Take with a large grain of salt the bloviating that takes place on talk radio and nighttime cable television. Remember these bloviators are paid to be hyper-partisan blowhards.
•Work to get out of your bubble once and awhile, or at least be honest enough to admit you're in a bubble, and there are other bubbles out there.
•Fight hard with what you believe, but don't be a hyper-partisan that feels the only acceptable outcome is the complete vanquishing of those on the other side. As Flake accurately notes, "understand that policies that last always bear the imprint of both sides."
Is this too much to ask? Given our current poisonous climate, maybe so. But I certainly hope not. As Flake warns: "When politics is frozen by suspicion, bad faith and ill will, the hyper-partisan is free to criticize, without the nettlesome obligation of having to actually work to accomplish something."
George Basler is a regular contributor to the Press & Sun-Bulletin.
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