Let's play ball

This past Wednesday, we experienced another national tragedy at the hands of a lone gunmen. James T. Hodgkinson fired upon a baseball field in a Washington suburb, injuring several people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. He, among with his colleagues, had been at the field for an early morning practice in prep for a bi-partisan charity baseball game that took place Thursday night.

One would think that such an event would lead to a rethink of the political rancor that exists between the parties. And it did, for a few minutes at least. Both Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi managed an inspiring call for unity, even having a joint interview at Thursday's game: http://time.com/4821010/paul-ryan-nancy-pelosi-steve-scalise-shooting-bipartisan

However, this did not stop the overall rhetoric from again becoming inflamed. Even within hours of the event, both sides blamed the other. This time, the right pointed fingers at the left due to the fact that Hodgkinson was an ardent Bernie Sanders supporter. This is not to leave the left blameless--even if it was not as apparent this time, in the past "my side" has been just as accusatory.

This is not to say that gun reform is not necessary. But name-calling and blame seeking is not the appropriate approach, especially in response to such a national tragedy.

Frankly, the bi=partisan baseball game is an apt metaphor. There will always be opposing sides to an issue, as in the game. But there are rules, and there is a way the game must be played and topics must be addressed. No one should go easy on the other, but civility must reign.

So, Congress, as you managed on Thursday, let's play ball.

With this in mind, I would like to continue to encourage civil debate among the citizenry as well. And so, the blog is back! To start us off, Markus Daskal, a returning debater, is squaring off against, Elie Rosen on the following prompt: The Investigation into Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was seeded in a double standard--President Trump has unfairly been investigated in retrospect to the investigate into Secretary Clinton.