Technology: Washington DC Lessons

1. As a teacher of US Government and Constitutional Law~ I am not an expert on the realities of operational daily events in DC. I am however a professional who toils in the day-to-day ideals of democracy. Pivotal to this week's learnings was the concept of compromise after reading selected Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers. The argumentsseem to be playing out in DC.
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The famous Virginian who wrote the Declaration of Independence~ Thomas Jefferson~ urged us to stay away from a king who could not honor basic "natural laws". While the arguments were good~ the ideals could not be fully implemented by those who held slaves. So~ compromise began in early forms of separation from Great Britain.
Later another famous Virginian~ James Madison along with two important New Yorkers-John Jay and Alexander Hamilton~ used their technology to distribute their arguments via newspapers about the need for a federal government to hold us together as a nation. The arguments of the Anti-Federalist gave us the early views of why we need a Bill of Rights. Again~ compromise is at the core of good government.

This week~ teaching the debates of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists through primary documents and instant technology~ we were allowed to hear the arguments following each press conference~ to discuss the Supreme Court's decisions on the Health Care Act~ and to review interviews from multiple news sources. We saw functioning and dysfunction in governmental decision-making. We in Constitutional Law and Government class in Williamsburg~ Virginia are wondering~ "Do our leaders understand the concept of compromise?" In Socratic Seminars we are asking~ "Do our leadersneed a refresher civics lesson about the hurtful impact in 2013 when attempting to develop a platform for running for office in 2014 and 2016?" Compromise and early lessons of the ideal and real seem missing to us in our small sheltered school.
Like my idealistic juniors and seniors who are on the verge of voting~ I am proud to be an American but I am seriously wondering if our leaders are using this~ the greatest era of technological communications~ to improve decision-making?
Pray for compromise for the sake of our nation!