At a meal in South Dining Hall yesterday evening with a good friend, the topic of the election came up. My friend and I sit on opposite sides of the aisle. Our conversation started congenially enough, but quickly dissolved into accusatory but veiled jabs at one another's personal judgment (e.g., "I don't see how you could trust ..." and "I have a problem with a politician who ..."). I think we both walked away with a bad taste in our mouths. I love politics, but I detest the type of destructive debate in which I engaged.As this election turns nasty, let's not allow MSNBC and Fox News to provide our arguments or (even worse) form our beliefs. We all face the same question: How can we best run our country? The truth is that if there was a "right" answer, we would have settled on it by now. There isn't, so the debate goes on. At bottom, we all maintain the same goal: to move our nation toward goodness, equality and prosperity. My friend and I would have done well to remember that.
Brett A. Strandgrad studentDuncan HallOct. 7
