George Washington warned against partisan politics in his 1796 Farewell Address:

“The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.”

As our Founding Father left office, Thomas Jefferson was organizing the Democratic-Republican Party to counter Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Party. One party backed Great Britain; the other supported France. That’s perhaps what worried Washington most, but his warning holds merit 214 years later.

Our country is more partisan than at any point in my life. Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle shout down good ideas because in this political climate, the only thing more important than being heard is getting credit.

Perhaps one day we can work together, United once again.