(Photo: Marek Studzinski / Unsplash)
American politics does not have a problem with people disagreeing.
The problem is how people deal with disagreement.
We do not just argue about what the government should do anymore. We look at almost everything as a team thing.
When something happens, people do not always ask what happened first.
They ask who did it.
If someone from their side does something, they defend it.
If someone from the other side does the same thing, suddenly it is wrong.
It can be the same action, the same kind of decision, and sometimes even the same argument. The reaction changes because the person or party changed.
That is not how people should be involved in their country.
That is how sports fans act.
And government is too important to be treated like a game.
You Can Have a Party Without Losing Your Mind
There is nothing wrong with being a Democrat, Republican, independent, conservative, progressive, moderate, or anything else.
Political parties have a purpose.
They help people organize around ideas, candidates, and what they believe government should look like.
The problem starts when people care more about protecting their party than deciding what is actually right.
We should be able to say that someone on the other side had a good idea.
We should be able to admit when somebody from our own party was wrong.
It should not feel like a betrayal to say that someone we like made a bad decision.
And it should not feel wrong to admit that somebody we normally disagree with made a good point.
But in politics today, it often does.
That is part of the problem.
Supporting a politician should not mean defending everything they do.
Disliking a politician should not mean pretending everything they do is bad.
If we only believe something because of who said it, then we need to ask ourselves whether we actually believe the idea or just like the team behind it.
We should think for ourselves.
Being Moderate Does Not Mean Being in the Middle of Everything
I consider myself politically moderate.
But when I say that, I do not mean every issue has a perfect answer directly in the middle.
Sometimes Democrats are right.
Sometimes Republicans are right.
Sometimes both sides get something wrong.
Sometimes one side has a much stronger argument than the other.
And sometimes an issue is more complicated than either side wants to admit.
Being moderate, to me, means I do not want the party label to decide my opinion before I even understand the issue.
I want to know what happened.
What does the policy actually do?
What does the bill actually say?
What was the vote actually about?
What are the consequences?
What is the other side saying, and is there anything valid in their argument?
Those questions should come before deciding who won the political argument.
Moderation should not mean being afraid to take a position.
It should mean being willing to reach that position on your own.
Social Media Makes Politics Worse
Social media has made this even harder.
Everything has to be immediate.
Everything has to be dramatic.
Everybody wants the clip, the headline, the screenshot, or the quote that proves the other side is terrible.
Context takes longer.
A post saying, “Look what this politician voted for,” can spread across the internet before most people even know what the bill was.
Sometimes a committee vote gets treated like a final vote.
Sometimes a politician votes for a larger bill even though they disagree with one part of it.
Sometimes amendments change what a bill looks like before the final vote.
Sometimes a politician really is being inconsistent and deserves criticism.
The point is not that politicians should be excused.
The point is that if we are going to criticize them, we should at least understand what actually happened.
Politics already has enough spin.
Regular people should not help make it worse by repeating something just because it helps their side.
The Standard Has to Stay the Same
One of the easiest ways to know whether we are being fair is to ask one question:
Would I feel the same way if the other party did this?
If the answer is no, maybe the issue is not the action itself.
Maybe the issue is the team.
If we say something is wrong when Republicans do it, then it should still be wrong when Democrats do it.
If we say something is good when Democrats do it, we should be willing to admit it can still be good when Republicans do it.
That does not mean every situation is identical.
Details matter.
But our basic standards should not change depending on who benefits.
That is especially important for politicians we personally support.
Supporting somebody does not make them above criticism.
In fact, if we really care about good government, we should expect more from the people we support, not less.
Why I Started The Montell Brief
That is a big part of why I created The Montell Brief.
I wanted a place where I could write about politics without feeling like every opinion had to fit perfectly into one party’s message.
This publication will focus on Florida politics, government, elections, public policy, and major national political issues.
There will be times when I agree with Democrats.
There will be times when I agree with Republicans.
There will be times when I disagree with both.
And there will probably be times when readers disagree with me.
That is okay.
I am not creating The Montell Brief because I expect everybody to agree with everything I write.
I am creating it because I believe people should be able to talk about politics, make arguments, disagree, and still think for themselves.
I want to look at what politicians actually said.
What they actually voted for.
What a policy actually does.
And what those decisions mean for regular people.
Politics should be about more than finding out whether your side won the argument that day.
Government affects our money, our rights, our communities, our safety, our schools, and our future.
That deserves more thought than simply choosing red or blue.
Disagreement is not the problem.
We are supposed to disagree.
The problem is when loyalty becomes more important than honesty.
You can belong to a political party and still question it.
You can support a politician and still criticize them.
You can disagree with somebody and still admit when they are right.
You do not have to leave your political party to think for yourself.
But you should never let your political party do your thinking for you.