All About Brett Kavanaugh

This week . . . was all about Brett Kavanaugh. And why not? As the legislative branch has slowly ceded more and more power to the judicial branch, the highest court in the land has increasingly become a political battleground. And today, that means polarization. Which means the name calling, political posturing, finger pointing, accusations of lying, ulterior motives and conspiracies has all but overwhelmed rational, thoughtful (even if heated) discourse about this critically important decision. And as the poison of polarization courses through our political system and infects our the courts, it helps to institutionalize and extend the corrosive legacy of thoughtless, reactive tribal politics for many years to come. And so the stain of polarization deepens and grows…

When reading these examples, check the above list and ask yourself: regardless of whether you agree or disagree, is this really advancing an intelligent resolution through the persuasive, rational arguments of advocacy…or simply fueling the fire of conflict through the divisive, emotional manipulations of polarization?

Here are just a few of the blue and red polarizing headlines from the past week.