Friend Democrat & Friend Republican

A political parable.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Let’s say you and I have a couple of mutual friends in Congress. Their names are Friend Democrat and Friend Republican.

Suppose we arrive home after a long, hard day at work. We suck it up in spite of our exhaustion. We decide to make a tasty, nutritionally balanced meal that nourishes our family.

We take the time to carefully chop vegetables, and grill a beautiful piece of fish. Friend Democrat gave us the recipe! He’s such a great friend, always wanting to make our lives better.

Then Friend Democrat calls us on the phone at 6:30 pm, just as we are trying to wrangle our teenagers away from their phones. We are eating at the dining room table, damnit.

“I made the fish,” we tell Friend Democrat. “It looks great. Thanks for the recipe! We are about to eat.”

Friend Democrat is in his office in Washington, and must tell us some good news. He is excited about some policy he developed today. As he drones on and on about how he’s finally figured out how to pay for Medicare for All, we cut him off. Can we call him back later? Dinner is served.

Friend Democrat is quiet. Friend Democrat knows one of our kids has a pre-existing condition, and how important this legislation is to us personally. But he meekly…