Weekly Wisdom
February 17, 2016
A call for Common Sense, a Commitment to Fair Play and Basic Courtesy
I turned on the radio a few days ago, and caught President Obama giving a speech at the Illinois
General Assembly. In 1996, Obama officially launched his political career, winning election to
the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat from the South Side neighborhood of Hyde Park, Chicago. This
speech marked the ninth anniversary of the day he announced his candidacy for the presidency. He
called for unity and compromise to fix American politics. For example, he said this:
(In the Illinois legislature) I learned by talking to your
constituents that if you were willing to listen, it was possible to
bridge a lot of differences. I learned that most Americans aren’t
following the ins and outs of the legislature carefully…they
understand the difference between realism and idealism; the
difference between responsibility and recklessness. They had the
maturity to know what can and cannot be compromised, and to
admit the possibility that the other side just might have a point.
And it convinced me that if we just approached our national
politics the same way the American people approach their daily
lives –- at the workplace, at the Little League game; at church or
the synagogue -- with common sense, and a commitment to fair play and basic courtesy, that
there is no problem that we couldn’t solve together.
Along those same lines, I’ve learned a lot about Justice Scalia since his death over the weekend.
Justices are, according to some, appointed to the Supreme Court for life so they have the freedom to
think. They have the time and independence to investigate law and to really argue the fine points of
any case. Sounds like Scalia was smart and appreciated others for their intellect. Michael W.
McConnell, Stanford Law School, wrote, “By sheer force of intellect and personality, Scalia helped to
move the court from a somewhat sloppy, results-oriented, center-left institution to a more
intellectually rigorous center-right court that forefronts text and history over other modes of
interpretation.” Yet, even in these descriptions, pundits make it seem so black and white, left and
right, in or out. There will be a big fight over who will appoint the next Supreme Court justice to
replace Scalia. President Obama says he’ll nominate someone. The Republican led Congress vows to
not vote on his nominee, hoping a Republican president will be elected in November. Seems like such
a waste of time.
I’ve been reminded this week that opinion is formed by what I’m told, by what I hear, by how I
sometimes accidently come upon someone else’s opinion. It can change. It can be, “I’m not sure.”
Obama reminisced about a time when people solved problems and compromised through “common
sense, a commitment to fair play and basic courtesy.” It doesn’t have to be in the past.
I write Weekly Wisdom as the Executive Director of Human Resources at Central Washington University. Having an
eye for meaningful things, I include my own observations and thoughts, ideas I’ve recently encountered, and/or
topics that are of current importance. I like to think that others will find reading Weekly Wisdom worth their time.
Staci Sleigh-Layman