Asking the right questions
Lost in the political rhetoric and divisive climate about issues such as Syrian refugees, gun control and police shootings is the fact that the vast majority of us are decent people with common sense who agree on essential points. A major problem is that these conversations are driven by those asking the wrong questions.
Most of us agree that we want the United States to accept innocent, victimized Syrian refugees, but that we want a secure process to ensure that terrorists posing as refugees don’t slip through. Most reports have the state and federal vetting system at one to two years, which seems like an ample amount of time to screen an immigrant. Yet Democrats who want to accept the refugees fail to say what’s right about the screening process, while Republicans don’t explain what’s wrong about it. Shouldn’t these questions be explored?
With gun control, has anyone noticed that neither party has actually explained what they’re asking to happen? We discuss whether we are in favor of or opposed to gun control without even knowing what actual result our “side” seeks.
If a police officer’s life is in danger, he or she should be permitted to use lethal force. If not, he or she should not. Do people really disagree on this point?
Is it possible that political and media leaders have no interest in asking the right questions?
Brian Gorman
Pittsburgh