The issue with partisan politics:

I walked onto Marquette campus with the title Flaming Liberal written
across my forehead. I held an opinion on everything, and I never held my tongue. I
criticized the GOP and considered "conservative" to be synonymous with idiotic,
racist, bigoted, and narrow-minded. Of course, this was all before I met Dr. Karen
Hoffman.
For anyone unaware, Dr. Karen Hoffman is a political science professor at
Marquette University, and led my American Politics class last semester. First, I'd like
to say that Dr. Hoffman is the best teacher I have ever had in my life. I think it's safe
to assume, going into a politics class, that the professor is likely to teach according
to their political association. But Dr. Hoffman presented facts and information and
really encouraged the class to think about current issues from both sides. She
commended and criticized both liberal and conservative ideas, and explained how
the intricacies of government make it difficult to side heavily one way or the other. I
left the class with a different perspective of politics, and reconsidered my "flaming
liberal" association.
Recently, I was called a liberal talking parrot via a Facebook comment thread. To
be honest, I'm more embarrassed to have been a part of the comment thread than I
am of the insult, but it got me thinking. I know that I am not a "liberal talking
parrot". I know that I honestly try to consider both sides of a situation before I form
an opinion, and that if I were going to put myself in any political category, it would
definitely be moderate. I'll admit that I'm more inclined to side with leftist ideology,
but I'll also be the first to criticize a liberal policy I disagree with. But this middleaged, conservative Facebook user didnt know that. He was under the impression
that, like too many political loyalists, I was blindly spouting liberal propaganda
without a second thought. At the same time he was making assumptions about me,
I was making assumptions about him. I was convinced that this man had spent his
entire life in a conservative bubble, doomed to live as a bigoted hypocrite feeding
off of white privilege and the second amendment. But that is the double standard
created by party loyalty, and is the reason partisan politics creates a dangerous
situation for progress.
No matter what this Facebook commenter believes, he will be put into a bubble
titled 'Conservative", in the same way that no matter what I actually believe, I will
be put into a bubble titled "Liberal" and we will be sworn enemies. Even if we agree
on a separate issue, it doesnt matter, because partisan politics dictates that we are
enemies, and we do not negotiate with the enemy. We cannot compromise, we
cannot listen, and we can definitely not agree, all because of some fraternity loyalty
pact that no one agreed to in the first place.
I have a friend who is a dedicated pot-smoking, animal loving, rainbow flag flying,
self-proclaimed hippie, who hates police officers and loves hair dye. She opposes
the patriarchal system and despises conservative viewpoints. I love this friend
dearly, and I agree with a lot of what she has to say. She is smart, confident and
capable, but I am not her. And frankly, to be put into the same bubble as her
because we both call ourselves feminists and also like Fall Out Boy is damning, and I

resent that kind of compartmentalization. I love police officers, and some of my

most intelligent friends would vote for the Republican candidate 9/10 times. I am
not Jessica. But because I loathe Scott Walker and am Pro-Choice, Jessica and I
become the same person. We are lumped together into the liberal talking parrot
category of society. If I were to openly agree with a conservative policy, I would be
chastised by my left-leaning comrades, and ignored entirely by the right.
That is what partisan politics does. It creates an environment where party loyalty is
more important than policy and ideas. It slows down progress by creating an
unnecessary argument. Compromise becomes infinitely more difficult and our great
United States becomes separate entities. I think we can all agree that another Civil
War would be a bad idea, but then again, agreeing on something isn't really
allowed, so we'll just have to see what happens.