History Lessons About Combatting Polarization in 2024 with Fareed Zakaria (John Donvan; Open to Debate podcast)

From AI and tech innovations to the political and cultural climate during a critical election year, our modern world is constantly changing. However, within these revolutions comes a new level of polarization that has entered every aspect of life. What can the past teach us about combatting polarization and adapting to a changing America? 

CNN host, Washington Post columnist, and bestselling author Fareed Zakaria says that while there is no “correct” path, you have to embrace being open-minded and make compromises to find solutions. In this conversation with host and moderator-in-chief John Donvan, Zakaria discusses his new book “Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present”, what led to us living in revolutionary times today, how past revolutions can help us understand our polarized present, and why despite it all, he’s still hopeful we’ll come out of the other side better for it.

Interview:

https://opentodebate.org/debate/history-lessons-about-combatting-polarization-in-2024-with-fareed-zakaria/

Pro-Trump Christian extremists use scripture to justify violent goals - The Washington Post

"If everything is cosmic combat, you never compromise," said Matthew Taylor, who researches Christian nationalism at the Baltimore-based Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies. "Who wants to compromise with demons?"… 

"It's like, 'I'm not actually threatening you — I'm just quoting scripture at you,'" said Glidden, who eventually resigned because of the attacks. "You can threaten people and you can intimidate them, as long as you have a Bible tract in your hand."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/13/trump-christian-nationalist-violent-rhetoric/

Opinion | Don Bacon Explains the Chaos in the Republican House - The New York Times

"I find a lot of them don't realize how our government really works. They think they can actually force the Senate to do their bidding, and we all know that this place operates on consensus and middle ground. When it's all said and done, especially when you're talking about negotiating the Senate version, versus the House version, you're going to get something in the middle. I've talked to some of them; they do not accept that premise. Their feet are not on the ground."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/opinion/don-bacon-republicans-gaetz.html

Biden praises passage of debt ceiling bill in Oval Office address ahead of signing it

"No one got everything they wanted, but the American people got what they needed," Biden said. "We averted an economic crisis, an economic collapse. We're cutting spending and bringing the deficits down at the same time. We're protecting important priorities – from Social Security to Medicare to veterans to our transformational investments in infrastructure and clean energy."…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/02/biden-debt-ceiling-bill-oval-office

The debt ceiling bill passed the House. Here’s how Biden won over Democrats there. - POLITICO

It was a major victory for Biden, not just preventing an economic calamity that could have come with a debt ceiling breach but proving — five months into a divided government — that the White House and House Democrats have persevered through what seemed, at times, like a rocky relationship.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/31/joe-biden-won-over-house-dems-00099587

After Calling Joe Biden Senile, GOPers Complain He Outsmarted Them | HuffPost Latest News

"If you haven't figured out by now that our president is in the top 1% of negotiators, you haven't been paying attention the last two and a half years," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told HuffPost.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-debt-limit-kevin-mccarthy_n_64774f6ce4b045ce2485f035

House Democrats’ press briefing on the debt ceiling bill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o92f9EhwkrI

House conservative threatens to push ousting McCarthy over debt deal - POLITICO

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on a radio show on Tuesday called the deal a "betrayal of the power sharing arrangement that we put in place" among the House GOP. He added that if he can't squash the package, either in the Rules Committee or on the floor, "then we're going to have to then regroup and figure out the whole leadership arrangement again" — a veiled threat against the speaker...

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/30/dan-bishop-mccarthy-debt-limit-00099262

BREAKING: Debt Ceiling DEAL IN PRINCIPLE may be END of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SiLvNOIDnA

Opinion | We have a debt limit deal. But is that all there is? - The Washington Post

What was the point of all this drama, exactly? …

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/28/debt-limit-deal-budget-differences/

AOC absolutely TORCHES Kevin McCarthy LIVE in must-see press conference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JND5orXjfrw

Opinion | House GOP anger over the debt limit makes a strong case against GOP control - The Washington Post

House Republicans are furious at their GOP counterparts in the Senate for making a deal with Democrats to avert a debt limit crisis. Those House lawmakers think GOP senators should be making it much harder for Democrats to prevent us from blowing through the debt limit, even though that would mean the United States would default on its debts…

House Republicans actively want to weaponize the threat of economic meltdown, which could lead to catastrophe. And as it happens, two GOP senators have confirmed this very neatly for us.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/08/senate-vs-house-republicans-on-debt-limit/

Opinion | Manchin just got Republicans to admit their ‘election fraud’ concerns are nonsense - The Washington Post

…Sure, maybe Manchin was surprised by Republicans' knee-jerk rejection of his completely reasonable compromise. Another way to interpret last week's events is that Manchin slyly revealed Republicans' stated concerns about stolen elections — and their professed desire to work across the aisle — as the baloney they always were…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/21/manchin-just-got-republicans-admit-their-election-fraud-concerns-are-nonsense/

Even If Infrastructure Negotiations Fail, Biden Still Wins | Time

… The Republican aide agrees that if negotiations fail, it could work to Biden's advantage, because he will use reconciliation to try and pass a popular bill, but will still be able to point to a clear record of trying to reach a bipartisan agreement. Says the aide: "If the goal for them was to set it up so they have the 50 votes to go at it alone, it's a pretty effective strategy."…

https://time.com/6070438/biden-infrastructure-bipartisan-negotiatons/

7 reasons Trump can’t make an immigration deal - Vox

Trump doesn't know how to compromise, and this is an awful time to learn. ....
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/23/18193446/immigration-bill-daca-shutdown-democrats-wall

Trump’s phony ‘compromise’ has now been unmasked as a total sham - The Washington Post: Opinion

The details of Trump's new plan to reopen the government and get his wall built are even worse than we feared. ....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/22/trumps-phony-compromise-has-now-been-unmasked-total-sham/

Religious Freedom Manifesto Calls for Compromise and Civility—What's So Wrong With That? - Rewire.News - Religion Dispatches

Behind earnestly worded appeals for religious freedom and respect is a pretense that the Framers of the Constitution and the First Amendment somehow intended to justify discrimination against others....

https://rewire.news/religion-dispatches/2018/12/06/religious-liberty-manifesto-calls-for-compromise-and-civility-what-could-possibly-be-wrong-with-that/

The key change that convinced Democrats to strike a shutdown deal

Hours into the start of the work week, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Democrats would vote for a three-week spending deal to end the government shutdown that began Saturday, while Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised to allow Senate votes on immigration issues like DACA. Yamiche Alcindor and Lisa Desjardins join Judy Woodruff to talk about the bipartisan short-term deal.....
https://youtu.be/8CU_2YTlM3U

The racism in Gen. Kelly's Civil War comments runs deep in the strand of evangelicalism that helped elect Trump -- Raw Story

When General Kelly noted this week that Robert E. Lee was an honorable man—and added that we could have avoided the war if people had been willing to compromise—he was rightly criticized. This article is reprinted with permission from Religion Dispatches. ....
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/the-racism-in-gen-kellys-civil-war-comments-runs-deep-in-the-strand-of-evangelicalism-that-helped-elect-trump/

John Kelly, the Civil War and the compromise that almost was | PolitiFact

The uproar that followed White House chief of staff John Kelly’s comment about the roots of the Civil War stands as Exhibit A of the potential problems that come when an official uses shorthand to talk about the country’s history of slavery. Here is the key excerpt of Kelly’s Oct. 30 interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. Ingraham had brought up the issue of removing statues of Confederate leaders. Kelly said:....
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/nov/02/kelly-civil-war-and-compromise-almost-was/