Does political party loyalty trump national patriotism? Are we just bidin’ time until the courts or a popular election determine the composition and course of our society in lieu of Congressional gridlock? Should the ability of non-citizens to cast ballots in November really be an issue? Would anyone favor affording residents of New Hampshire opportunity to vote in Maine – or inviting members of the United Automobile Workers to participate in elections of Longshoremen’s or Teamsters’ leadership? All present and prospective 2024 U.S. Presidential candidates are controversial, a feature of our Constitutional government that differentiates it from autocracies. Persistent razor-thin House and Senate voting margins on legislative issues signal factional rivalry rather than unity of purpose. The result in its chambers too often is combative dictatorships rather than recognition that consistent, extremely narrow voting margins can be dangerously decisive. Has our representatives’ personal career “safety imperative” of camping under the party tent replaced all sense of public interest in reasoned accommodation? Do we abstractly focus on the feelings of all sorts of minorities but the politically defeated ones in a narrowly divided Congress? Phil Osifer