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I won't even comment about the time between blogs. I think at this point we can all agree it's a nonissue.

For the past couple of weeks, I have been noodling around this incredibly insightful, thought-provoking blog post, and for the life of me, I cannot seem to get it out right. In my defense, it may be that since I have two trials over the next three weeks, I'm simply zonked, but in any case, I'm afraid that the entire thing has more or less escaped me.

What it boiled down to though, was this: I've been watching the healthcare debate like most folks, and to be honest, I'm not sure that I've formed a very solid opinion of the whole thing. Frankly, I haven't seen anything cohesive enough come out of either chamber for me to even form an opinion about (and yes, that includes the House bill). So do I feel the frustration and the anger? Absolutely.

But the healthcare debate to me is simply indicative of the larger debate going on right now in American politics. I asked my dad a while back if it was just my relative inexperience, or if national politics had gotten meaner, and he confirmed that it is most certainly meaner. This healthcare debate to me has only reinforced what I already suspected -- the American people are (I guess?) so frustrated with the system that they're turning on each other. But I have to ask -- how is that helpful?

I won't recap everything I've observed since prior to the presidential election, but to say that I am shocked at how people are treating each other is an understatement. The judgement if you support this candidate or that one. The sneer if you stand up (or against) universal healthcare. The name calling. I guess I'm horrified at how normal folks on both sides seem to have turned inward to find a scapegoat, and to some extent, I guess you could say it hurts my heart to see that.

Surely there are things we can all agree on. I expect that most people would agree that you don't wish suffering on your fellow man. Probably most (probably?) would agree that a hospital presented with an emergency situation shouldn't stop to check insurance before treating a seriously injured person (regardless of national origin). Sick people should be able to get medicine. Kids shouldn't die of treatable diseases.

I think (hope?) those basics are fairly agreeable. And I understand that the disagreement comes from more specifics - which we all know really boils down to who pays for the care.

But I have to wonder at this point if the debate is really about who pays or if it's become so partisan that nobody can see straight. I feel like there's a solution in here somewhere, but everyone's so focused on being right (or left-haha) that they simply refuse to acknowledge or consider anything that might require taking a little stroll across the aisle.

From Washington, I accept that. From the citizenry calling into talk shows, the ladies talking with their friends over coffee, the office workers at the water cooler and the people chatting at the lunch counter, I simply cannot accept that we have reached a point politically where it is acceptable to personally attack other people for their opinions -- on either side of the debate. And it's not just healthcare. I watched a man (a stranger) walk up to my dad in the parking lot and try to pick a fight (a fight! with my dad! at his office!) because of his bumper sticker. Really? Have we come so far (or gotten so lost?)?

I guess what this entire rambly post is meant to get out is that I truly, sincerely don't believe the answer to healthcare, or to the war, or to the economy, or to any of the other issues we face today, is found on the right. Nor is it found on the left. I suspect it lies, as most things tend to, somewhere in the middle, but I'm afraid we won't be in danger of even brushing up against it at this rate. If we can't speak civilly to our families about the issues, then how on earth can we expect our politicians to come even remotely close to constructive discourse?