The Difference Between the Left and the Right

For those who've known me for some time know, I often say, and with some genuine sadness, that within the context of American political conflict, it is increasingly clear that the Left and the Right inhabit entirely different moral universes.  What has happened in the wake of the Tucson shooting serves only to reinforce that somber conclusion.

When word of the Saturday's massacre first spread, we knew very little of the details of the crime itself and absoltuely nothing of the character, ideology, political affiliation, or motivation of the shooter.  As it happened, his victims included a George H. W. Bush appointed federal judge and a Democrat congresswoman.  The latter, while an Obamacare supporter, was also a gun rights advocate and something of a libertarian.  As such, it would have been just as easy for those of us on the Right to have seized the moment in order to try and score some cheap political points as it was for those on the Left.

But we didn't and they did.

Moreover, had any one of us even tried as much, he or she would have immediately faced an avalanche of criticism from their soon to be former political allies.

Sadly, as I say, we're not the same.  The differences between the Left and the Right are no longer simply matters of degree, they have in fact become differences in kind.  As a result, the resolution of our conflicts cannot be managed through simple compromise.  It can only be achieved by victory for one side and defeat for the other.