Op-Ed: Can friendship help resolve America’s fractured political climate?

On the morning of Feb. 13, the United States was shocked with the news of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. Immediately following the news, a barrage of reactions concerning President Obama’s potential appointment of Justice Scalia’s successor began pouring from both political parties. Perhaps greater than this initial politicizing of Scalia’s death, however, was the outpouring of criticism for how political figures were treating Scalia’s death. These critics argued that Justice Scalia’s legacy exceeded his admittedly brilliant work for the Supreme Court; one major legacy he left behind was his long friendship with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and his willingness to hold friendships across party lines. Justice Ginsburg wrote of their friendship, “we were best buddies.” They spent New Year’s Eve together and went on joint vacations. Their relationship was touted by many as exemplary behavior for two political figures of opposing parties.

In the days following Justice Scalia’s death, my Facebook newsfeed was covered with articles people shared touting Justice Scalia as a model figure for his job; his legacy of friendship with Justice Ginsburg and Justice Kagan remains an impressive display of his maturity. Actions by Republicans attempting to block President Obama’s nomination of a Supreme Court Justice were criticized as resistance simply for the purpose of resistance. In this current political climate, where any action taken by President Obama is followed by a vow from all Republican political candidates to repeal that action (including Obamacare, proposed actions on gun control and now a Supreme Court nominee), it is difficult to determine when exactly actions by political figures are provoked by genuine policy differences, personal differences in beliefs or spite. Though it is easy to proclaim that we as a country should strive towards the sort of cross-party friendships that Scalia managed to maintain, this ability should not be considered a defining characteristic of a “good” political figure.

It only makes sense, when the beliefs and policies discussed in politics are so personal, that people would have difficulty keeping their personal opinions of people of the opposing party separate from their political opinions. Just think about the reason why people join politics — at least in an idealistic sense, people join politics to fight for opinions they believe in. When the people of the opposing party literally believe in different rights than you, any attempt to block their objectives serves as a benefit to what you believe in. Some may say that Republican attempts to block President Obama’s appointment of Scalia’s successor are coming from a place of spite and are blocking Obama’s presidential right. However, looking back in time to 2006 when Obama was a senator, he too tried to block Supreme Court Justice Alito’s nomination through a filibuster. Neither party, in 2006 or now, is partaking in illegal actions to try to obstruct presidential rights. It is incorrect to state that Republican efforts to block Obama’s Supreme Court appointment are just a reflection of how recently Democrats and Republicans lack the willingness to try to cooperate, regardless of the individual motives of politicians of either party. Supreme Court justices, especially the one who will fill the shoes of Justice Scalia, have a massive impact on which party legal policies favor.

I think it’s incorrect to point to Justices Scalia and Ginsburg’s friendship as a model for all political figures to follow. Certainly, it would help ease the tension between the parties on a personal level, but it would not have a tangible effect on the political climate. Regardless of Justices Ginsburg and Scalia’s friendship, it had no effect on how they judged cases — they stuck to the policies they themselves believed in. So, while it would be nice to be able to point to more cross-party friendships as moral examples, the lack of these friendships cannot be considered a reason for why the current American political climate is so frosty. At the end of the day, politics is an unfriendly profession because of the inherent contradiction of core values between parties. Not even a friendship as long-lasting and personal as Scalia and Ginsburgs' can change that.

 

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