Hey Jim! Thanks so much for being willing to engage with me, it means a lot. I'm curious what it means to be a constitutional purist -- what do you think the biggest issues facing America are, and why? I also would love to hear how you came to be a constitutional purist / conservative, if you'd be willing to share (no worries if not, this seems like a more personal question!)
I know there are heaps of trolls and bad actors on the internet, and I kind of want to prove that that's not why I'm here, so in a good-faith effort, these are a couple of the issues I imagine a constitutional purist would care about:
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Protections on free speech / assembly. Honestly, at this point, possibly even considering political affiliation to be a protected class (to some extent) would fit, I think, with my current understanding of a constitutional purist. The constitution is pretty clear about wanting a society where people can engage in dialogue (scathing, even, of the government or powers that be) without fear.
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Checks and balances. The current system of government seems simultaneously very bloated and very fast-moving -- which is to say, it doesn't seem in-line with the framers' intent for one branch of government to unilaterally enact change, whether that's by crazy-broad executive actions or overreaches by the supreme court.
Not super sure how to respond to this, since I don't know Kamala enough to be confident that I know her motivations. But what I can say is that I find it terribly disingenuous to say "let's talk" if what you really mean is "listen to me; I want to talk some 'sense' into you; I believe that you're scum and I just want to tell you that." When I say let's talk, I'm willing to back that up with actual conversation.
What sorts of action do you think people should be taking? I'm personally a proponent of the whole "dang this country is so divided, as lame as it sounds, talking across echo chambers (because the internet is crazy good at sorting us all into bubbles) might just be the only way to heal." But also I don't know if enough people are willing to respect each other enough (it's terribly disrespectful when people just dismiss entire arguments and people with a single label. it shuts the entire conversation down, and it's maddening) to even sit down at the same table and hash things out.
Also I'd love to hear what you think the left does that's most destructive, and what the right does that's most destructive... and also how do we encourage people NOT to do these destructive things? Sorry, I know those are a lot of questions - I hope you're having a good day!