In December of last year, a Democrat-controlled house voted to impeach President Donald Trump on two articles. Last month, a Republican-controlled house voted to acquit president Trump of all impeachable offenses. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate voted almost entirely along party lines. It was no surprise to me that the House voted to Impeach President Trump nor was I surprised when the Senate acquitted him. I have said this before and I will say it again: we are divided and it is to our own detriment. 

I am not defending the impeachment or acquittal of President Trump, nor am I defending Democrats, Republicans, or Independents. I am defending no action taken by any party in the impeachment and acquittal of President Trump, nor am I accusing any one party. I am arguing that the mere existence of defined parties, or sides, in the most recent impeachment processes is indicative of a much deeper issue that the impeachment, or even the indictment, of President Trump would do nothing to address. 

While Trump’s behavior of withholding foreign aid and pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political opponent, as well as his obstructionism is of grave concern to me, the democratic “side” cannot claim higher morality or behavioral superiority. Just as I am disturbed by President Trump’s behavior, I am equally disturbed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to tear up the State of the Union address and the subsequent support from the majority of Democrats. Both individuals, Trump and Pelosi, in their actions have embodied the devolution of politics: the idea that a party is either strictly moral or immoral in their actions. 

This is the issue I am speaking of. It is not one person; it is the latching onto one party or the other, putting our blinders on and charging directly at our political opposite at the crack of the whip. Politics should not be a competition of morality nor should it be about supporting one party or the other. Politics is simply another name for our endeavor as a diverse group of people to learn to live together. Treat it as such. Learn to listen and to speak with the utmost respect for those we converse with. Understand that an individual’s opinion cannot be equated to their experience, the implication being that there can be no expectation that the latter be defended nor should it be disagreed with. See that there is a time to debate and a time de-escalate, a time to talk and a time to simply be present and listen. 

We have all fallen at one time or another into the mindset that politics is an us-and-them endeavor, a fall that I believe, if normalized and perpetuated, will have disastrous consequences and cause unprecedented harm. 

We must not look back on the events of the past few months as a competition to see which party has the most support, or whether or not President Trump’s actions were impeachable. We must not view it as a failure of the House to build a strong case for the removal of President Trump from office nor view it as a failure of the Senate to provide a fair trial. We have failed. Not just the politicians, not just President Trump, not just Pelosi. All of us. America has failed at politics. 

I have witnessed many arguments amongst my peers over which political party has more morals and which political party is “right” or “wrong.” Many of these arguments have involved personal attacks on “the other side.” If we cannot conduct ourselves in respectful conversation, and if we claim to have no time to hear the “other side,” we have no right to expect the same from the politicians we have elected. 

In the months leading up to the 2020 presidential election, I encourage us to learn from this failure and to learn to listen and speak with grace and with respect. We cannot simply make the “other side” disappear. No matter who is elected, we must learn to live together. If we can do that, maybe our politicians will follow suit.