Worst. Party(/Parties). Ever.
It's been an exhausting week. Last Sunday feels like 50 years ago, and I'm tired. It's hard to believe that Monday was my birthday, and these last few days have just made adulthood feel very, very real. This post is very much a ramble, words typed on a screen with little editing and lots of emotion. I had a 25th birthday retrospective ready to go for today, but I'm going to let that chill until next week.
When I was a senior in high school, we were tasked with creating a senior project. The goal of this project was to present an issue and find a way to improve or solve the issue through Catholic Social Teaching. Topics among the senior class ranged from alcoholism to marriage rights to body image. And yet, I had to be different. I decided, because I loved history and politics, that the issue that I would confront in my senior project would be partisanship. Yep, the two-party system in United States politics.
I could go into my argument and attempted solution, but right now it feels hopelessly optimistic if not entirely naive. Whatever it was, I know that for at least the past seven years, the atrocities of partisan politics have been on my mind. In high school, I had considered law. I considered politics. I wanted to be a judge, bringing justice in the way that only the judicial system can. And now, I don't. A former teacher, upon learning a few years ago that I wasn't pursuing political science in college, mentioned how they were surprised that I wasn't starting the winding road toward being the Secretary of State. And I told him that I could not bear to expose myself to the moral corruption that I have seen since I've had any passing interest in government policy. He agreed.
It's surprisingly painful to see that partisanship reach the doors of the Supreme Court. The last time I was in DC, I made a point to walk to the Supreme Court Building, because I hadn't been before. The Supreme Court has always held a mythical place in my mind, and to see it would be incredibly exciting. It's a resolute building, bursting with history and precedent. The US Capitol Building is the tallest building in the city, and yet, as you look out from the Supreme Court, it is built on lower ground than the building of the nation's highest court. The Supreme Court, literally and figuratively, looks over the two other branches of our federal government. The sanctity of the Court stems from its position as a place of utmost morality, a place where politics is theoretically set aside and each decision is made on the basis of the Constitution, not party. Obviously, we know that to be untrue, especially in recent years, but there's always hope with each nominee that maybe it will be better this time. And so far, each nomination has only brought more and more contention, division, and politics into the mix.
In a world where each person contains their own unique facets of character, personality, and opinion, the partisanship in the United States only serves to rip each person apart. The display that has been put on this week for all the world to see only goes to show that very point. Our individual power can sometimes feel very small, but We the People are called to do what is best for our country in whatever way we can. Do your part.
National voting website - https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote
Indiana voting website - https://indianavoters.in.gov/
Who should you vote for? - https://votesmart.org/
The voter registration deadline for the state of Indiana is October 9
Other important dates and deadlines (including absentee voting) - https://www.usvotefoundation.org/vote/state-elections/state-election-dates-deadlines.htm#IN
Blogger's note - The Kavanaugh nomination has brought questions to light about many different societal and political systems in our country. My choice to talk about this one issue does not mean that I do not have strong feelings about any of the others. A blog encapsulating every emotion stirred in me by this process would simply take too long, and many others have already written about those other aspects with much more clarity, knowledge, and credibility. My "hot take" only serves as an outlet for a side of this fight that I haven't seen discussed as much as the others. The one unifying outcome of all of the issues brought to light is that using our right to vote is the best way to turn our words into actions.
When I was a senior in high school, we were tasked with creating a senior project. The goal of this project was to present an issue and find a way to improve or solve the issue through Catholic Social Teaching. Topics among the senior class ranged from alcoholism to marriage rights to body image. And yet, I had to be different. I decided, because I loved history and politics, that the issue that I would confront in my senior project would be partisanship. Yep, the two-party system in United States politics.
I could go into my argument and attempted solution, but right now it feels hopelessly optimistic if not entirely naive. Whatever it was, I know that for at least the past seven years, the atrocities of partisan politics have been on my mind. In high school, I had considered law. I considered politics. I wanted to be a judge, bringing justice in the way that only the judicial system can. And now, I don't. A former teacher, upon learning a few years ago that I wasn't pursuing political science in college, mentioned how they were surprised that I wasn't starting the winding road toward being the Secretary of State. And I told him that I could not bear to expose myself to the moral corruption that I have seen since I've had any passing interest in government policy. He agreed.
It's surprisingly painful to see that partisanship reach the doors of the Supreme Court. The last time I was in DC, I made a point to walk to the Supreme Court Building, because I hadn't been before. The Supreme Court has always held a mythical place in my mind, and to see it would be incredibly exciting. It's a resolute building, bursting with history and precedent. The US Capitol Building is the tallest building in the city, and yet, as you look out from the Supreme Court, it is built on lower ground than the building of the nation's highest court. The Supreme Court, literally and figuratively, looks over the two other branches of our federal government. The sanctity of the Court stems from its position as a place of utmost morality, a place where politics is theoretically set aside and each decision is made on the basis of the Constitution, not party. Obviously, we know that to be untrue, especially in recent years, but there's always hope with each nominee that maybe it will be better this time. And so far, each nomination has only brought more and more contention, division, and politics into the mix.
In a world where each person contains their own unique facets of character, personality, and opinion, the partisanship in the United States only serves to rip each person apart. The display that has been put on this week for all the world to see only goes to show that very point. Our individual power can sometimes feel very small, but We the People are called to do what is best for our country in whatever way we can. Do your part.
National voting website - https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote
Indiana voting website - https://indianavoters.in.gov/
Who should you vote for? - https://votesmart.org/
The voter registration deadline for the state of Indiana is October 9
Other important dates and deadlines (including absentee voting) - https://www.usvotefoundation.org/vote/state-elections/state-election-dates-deadlines.htm#IN
Blogger's note - The Kavanaugh nomination has brought questions to light about many different societal and political systems in our country. My choice to talk about this one issue does not mean that I do not have strong feelings about any of the others. A blog encapsulating every emotion stirred in me by this process would simply take too long, and many others have already written about those other aspects with much more clarity, knowledge, and credibility. My "hot take" only serves as an outlet for a side of this fight that I haven't seen discussed as much as the others. The one unifying outcome of all of the issues brought to light is that using our right to vote is the best way to turn our words into actions.
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