Letter to the Editor: Presidential Apology

My concern with the current state of the country continues to worsen. An alarming problem we have in our country are that two extremes (that of the far left and right) continue to grow, with their only interest being driving a larger wedge through the middle of our country facilitated by a large enough portion of our population that feed right into the plan, making a talking point free discourse that moves us to the middle more and more difficult to occur. Letters from people, likely highly educated people like Mr. Demoe, are a good example that further my concern. My comments that follow are not a personal attack on Mr. Demoe – just an observation worth consideration.

Whether left, or right, anytime someone uses discourse on a topic of interest to make passive aggressive and clearly partisan statements like “The Donald”, “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”, “three times married”, makes a “firm” statement that a president offer an apology and then closes with a “Mexican Wall” statement all diminish any credibility to constructive discussion. Righteous emails that “throw partisan knives” just continue to drive a wedge in our society. Liberals cheer Mr. Demoe’s email and conservatives rally against. In the meantime, there is no constructive discussion to find consensus on topics like a identifying a responsible immigration plan, addressing alleged and preventing potential future abuse of power by anyone, establishing fair and sustainable tax reform, identifying effective ways to mitigate true threats to our country and finding a middle ground on social issues where I believe people are not as far apart on hot topics, or can peacefully agree to disagree on others.

Mr. Demoe – you are probably a great man, with a life full of tremendous stories and are likely at a point where little anyone says bothers you. You are likely deserving of a healthy amount of respect. I hope my response finds you in an objective mood where you see I am not criticizing you personally, but rather, using your letter as an example of what continues to drive us apart rather than stepping us closer to common ground, facilitating a constructive discussions of challenging differences.

In closing, college years have become a time in one’s life where it is cool to be progressive and where often times those with progressive positions are considered “enlightened”. As long as attempts at educated discourse continue to be shouted down with claims of ignorance, communist, racist, intolerant and all of the other labels used by both sides identifying constructive solutions will continue to be a slow process = at best. Partisan politics and a biased media continue to further our biggest problem – the lack of educated discourse that moves us closer to a middle ground, or at least understanding and accepting differences without feeling those with opposing views are evil, ignorant, or worse.

Respectfully,

Mike Vodarsik ’89

One thought on “Letter to the Editor: Presidential Apology”

Mike Vodarsik says:

October 31, 2017 at 1:15 pm

My concern with the current state of the country continues to worsen. An alarming problem we have in our country are that two extremes (that of the far left and right) continue to grow, with their only interest being driving a larger wedge through the middle of our country facilitated by a large enough portion of our population that feed right into the plan, making a talking point free discourse that moves us to the middle more and more difficult to occur. Letters from people, likely highly educated people like Mr. Demoe, are a good example that further my concern. My comments that follow are not a personal attack on Mr. Demoe – just an observation worth consideration.

Whether left, or right, anytime someone uses discourse on a topic of interest to make passive aggressive and clearly partisan statements like “The Donald”, “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”, “three times married”, makes a “firm” statement that a president offer an apology and then closes with a “Mexican Wall” statement all diminish any credibility to constructive discussion. Righteous emails that “throw partisan knives” just continue to drive a wedge in our society. Liberals cheer Mr. Demoe’s email and conservatives rally against. In the meantime, there is no constructive discussion to find consensus on topics like a identifying a responsible immigration plan, addressing alleged and preventing potential future abuse of power by anyone, establishing fair and sustainable tax reform, identifying effective ways to mitigate true threats to our country and finding a middle ground on social issues where I believe people are not as far apart on hot topics, or can peacefully agree to disagree on others.

Mr. Demoe – you are probably a great man, with a life full of tremendous stories and are likely at a point where little anyone says bothers you. You are likely deserving of a healthy amount of respect. I hope my response finds you in an objective mood where you see I am not criticizing you personally, but rather, using your letter as an example of what continues to drive us apart rather than stepping us closer to common ground, facilitating a constructive discussions of challenging differences.

In closing, college years have become a time in one’s life where it is cool to be progressive and where often times those with progressive positions are considered “enlightened”. As long as attempts at educated discourse continue to be shouted down with claims of ignorance, communist, racist, intolerant and all of the other labels used by both sides identifying constructive solutions will continue to be a slow process = at best. Partisan politics and a biased media continue to further our biggest problem – the lack of educated discourse that moves us closer to a middle ground, or at least understanding and accepting differences without feeling those with opposing views are evil, ignorant, or worse.

Respectfully,

Mike Vodarsik ’89

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