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“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33
A priority takes precedence over all other tasks because of its superior importance. The Republicans and Democrats today embrace a completely different set of priorities. This significant misalignment leads to damaged relationships, poor communication and can put our country in danger. We need a realignment of our most important priorities to avoid our country’s destruction.
We can begin to assess our priorities by appreciating the two basic types of conflicts. A conflict caused by disagreement in principles is so serious that it can lead to permanently damaged relationships. It’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to resolve a conflict caused by misaligned principles. The second type of conflict is a disagreement in methods. This type can often be resolved with negotiation. Here is an example.
Imagine you and your partner want to go on vacation. If you both agree on a specific location (based on weather, activities, family connections, etc.) serious conflict can be avoided because you’ve agreed on a priority based on principles (those things that are most important to both of you).
If you and your partner agree on principle, you might still disagree with the methods. You might think driving to the destination is best, but your partner may think flying is best. This conflict can be resolved with respectful negotiation.
Because our two political parties are embracing contradictory principles it’s leading to contradictory priorities. It’s time we all assessed which principles to embrace to best serve our country and each other. Which ones will keep us safe and fiscally healthy?
The Open Border
Which principle causes one to embrace an open border policy? Should every person in the world (not just citizens) be allowed entrance into America? Embracing this principle creates unintended consequences including out of control: child trafficking, migrant deaths during travel, strains on public services such as public education, criminals and others who hate America entering, entrance of deadly drugs such as Fentanyl, etc.
Republicans embrace the principle of legal immigration with effective assimilation into the American culture. Effective assimilation minimizes the unintended consequences of the open border priority. Which principle optimizes American exceptionalism? Which one keeps us safe and fiscally healthy?
Like a cruise ship, America must optimize resources while protecting the health and welfare of the paying passengers. Allowing unlimited numbers of non-paying and unvetted passengers puts paying passengers and the entire cruise ship at risk.
Connecticut ranks fifth in the country for declining detainer requests from the department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.). An organization called the Democratic Socialists of America fights against deportations even if the detainees are violent criminals. Their tag line is, “Take the pledge: if ICE abducts, we will obstruct!” Their priority is to protect illegals. Connecticut is a sanctuary state and therefore is ignoring the President of the United Sates and the will of the people (demonstrated by the 2024 election results).
This priority contradicts the importance of culture and assimilation and places the rights of illegal criminals ahead of tax paying citizens. The Democrats wants the cruise ship to head toward a completely different destination than the Republicans do. This misalignment could cause a mutiny on the ship.
Deportations and Public Safety
Democratic Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen recently flew off to El Salvador, intending to secure the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia who allegedly has ties to MS-13 (a violent criminal gang) and who also, has apparently routinely beat his wife.
The Senator decided the release of a violent illegal, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, was the most important priority. Senator Van Hollen’s priority is to protect the rights of the illegal criminal claiming Garcia did not receive due process before deportation.
It seems a bit crazy to me that an illegal violent gang member receives the same rights as a law-abiding citizen. The Supreme Court will be wrestling with this. What is your priority, the safety of the paying passengers on the cruise ship, or the rights of the criminals who unlawfully boarded the ship? Is it true that all persons in America, even if they are an illegal immigrant, have a criminal record and belong to a violent gang designated as a terrorist organization, deserve due process before deportation? Is that the principle? Do you agree?
The Embrace of Violence
Elon Musk is leading an effort called the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E). Its purpose is to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity”. The principle is to optimize the positive impact of all taxpayer dollars. The left disagrees with this principle. We know this because Tesla Dealerships (Elon Musk’s company) are being firebombed, and no Democrat politician has condemned such behavior.
Is firebombing Tesla Dealerships an act of political protest or a violent felony? As of March 19, 2025, ten dealerships have been damaged. Senate Democrats blocked a resolution, authored by Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, that would have condemned the violence against Tesla.
D.O.G.E. has uncovered staggering levels of abuse, fraud and corruption. The Republican priority is to condemn the violence and to accelerate D.O.G.E. results. Is the Democrat party priority to continue to allow the fraud and waste? Isn’t this disrespectful to the taxpayer? Isn’t the removal of fraud and waste from government spending the right thing to do?
What is the principle the Democrats are standing upon to continue the fraud and waste? It’s unclear.
Additional Priority Misalignments
In Connecticut, Attorney General William Tong is investigating Avelo Airlines for cooperating with the Trump administration to deport illegal immigrants who are also convicted criminals.
Shouldn’t an Attorney General’s priority be to promote the safety of all Connecticut citizens by cooperating to deport criminals? According to the official website, Tong’s priorities include safeguarding civil rights and freedoms and protecting the rights of women, minority communities, immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community. There is no mention of protecting the safety of citizens. Safety is the most important priority according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
CT Secretary of State Stephie Thomas has dismissed common sense election safeguards to prevent voter fraud. These include voter ID and citizenship verification. Isn’t the integrity of elections the most important priority for a Secretary of State? Why would Democrats oppose actions that could improve citizen safety and voting integrity? What is the principle?
Many Ivy League Universities, like Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton, have announced their unwillingness to comply with Trump administration demands to stop antisemitic harassment of students (especially by international students). They refuse to comply even though these behaviors are inconsistent with university policies and civil rights laws. Shouldn’t following policy and civil rights laws be a top priority? What principle are they standing upon?
In Massachusetts the Department of Children and Families took children away from their parents because they violated a vaccination mandate. Shouldn’t parents be able to make decisions about their children’s health? Don’t we have control over what goes into our bodies?
Summary
Significant misalignment of priority leads to damaged relationships and poor communication. This can lead to severe societal injury. In stormy economic and political seas, damaged relationships will put the cruise ship in serious peril. Right now, most conflicts between the two political parties are serious disagreements on principles. We need to get back to aligning principles and negotiating methods instead. It seems the only principle the Democrats are embracing is to oppose Trump no matter what.
What are your priorities regarding these issues? A clear understanding of priorities and principles prepares us to vote for politicians who share those same principles. Unless we align our priorities, the cruise ship is in danger.