A Political Conversation

The other day I had a long discussion about the government shutdown with a self-described “Tea Party Patriot” who insisted the current problems would be solved by term limits. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing as I asked how long Cruz has been in Congress. I soon discovered he had absolutely no understanding of the concept of gerrymandering. He also insisted that the Affordable Care Act was not valid because Republicans didn’t vote for it even though it passed both Houses of Congress, signed into law by the President, vetted by the Supreme Court and then argued over endlessly throughout a presidential campaign. Maybe the folks who have been spending a lot of money on making it harder for people to vote should focus their efforts on basic civics and the need to educate people on how our democracy works.

The other person started the political conversation and thought he was picking on me. I see him all the time and we usually don’t talk politics. He is very good in his area of expertise which obviously is not civics, democratic values, American history, or compassion for others. The use of the word “patriot” is odd for an anti-government party with members calling for secession and whose actions in Congress are getting perilously close to the definition of sedition. IMHO