Why so many Americans are turned off to politics

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Really, America? Must everything always be political?
Editorial, New Hampshire Union Leader, April 17, 2013

If you wanted to understand why so many Americans are turned off to politics, all you had to do was watch the partisan reactions to the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday.

Picking a side and sticking to it is not a flaw in politics or sports or much else. Being guided in politics by a core philosophy is not just OK, it's the way politics should be done. But so many Americans are now driven almost entirely by ideology or partisanship (there is a difference) that historic moments that should unite us all become opportunities to divide us further.

The injured were still being removed from Boylston Street on Monday when partisans on the left and the right speculated that surely this must be the work of the other side. If they were not blaming the other side directly, they stated with no evidence whatsoever that the blasts confirmed their own political views.

Former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., used the moment not to call for unity, but to take pot shots against people who advocate for lower taxes and smaller government. Conservative activists used the moment to bash the media, ironically getting facts wrong while complaining about news reports that, in the chaotic aftermath of a terrorist attack, were sometimes off base.

Have we really reached the point at which not even the bombing of a major American city can cause people to put down their partisan swords for a day?
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