I emailed the following to 100 U.S. Senators and to 51 U.S. Representatives in the days before Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed a Joint Session of Congress on July 24, 2024:
The nation’s Capital is my Capital and i strongly object to its welcoming a perpetrator of war crimes, heinous atrocities, and genocide. Israel’s Prime Minister is responsible for the destruction of 80,000 family homes, and the heartless killing of over 38,000 civilian men, women, children, and infants. He has systematically impeded the delivery of medical aid, food, shelter, and water to the families of Gaza. Please demonstrate that you possess the empathy that he lacks, and that you decry the unnecessary taking of innocent lives. Please do not remain seated to infer dignity to Netanyahu’s blatant campaign of war crimes in his own self-interest.
I indicated that I did not require a response if that information was solicited. I now wish I had requested a response from each.
I’ve received 61 emails in response: 25 from Republicans, 33 from Democrats, and 2 from Independents.
I judged each response on showing:
| #1 | Compassion for the plight of Gaza citizens | 91% of Democrats | 4% of Republicans |
| #2 | Only the acknowledgement of Gaza citizens | 6% of Democrats | 24% of Republicans |
| #3 | No acknowledgement of Gaza citizens | 3% of Democrats | 72% of Republicans |
| Democrats | showing response #1 | 31 |
| Democrats | showing response #2 | 2 |
| Democrats | showing response #3 | 1 |
| Republicans | showing response #1 | 1 |
| Republicans | showing response #2 | 6 |
| Republicans | showing response #3 | 18 |
| Independents | showing response #1 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 61 |
In some cases, a response could be less indicative of the politician’s personal perspective than what they wish to convey to their constituency. However, the responses do show that compassion is communicated by Democratic representatives far more often than communicated by Republican representatives. Furthermore, a 2020 publication in the Journal of Social and Political Psychology states “[T]he vast majority of [studies] … converge upon the same conclusion; namely, that people measuring higher in general empathy tend to harbor liberal political views. … [T]his discrepancy could help explain the extensive political polarization that characterizes contemporary U.S. politics.”
Although liberals have been labeled “bleeding hearts” as early as the 1930’s, only recently has there been such “extensive political polarization.” Many studies point to the Internet and ‘social media’ as responsible for exacerbating this divide. From BCP Education & Society: “[Social media] does not facilitate people with different political preferences to learn more about politics, but rather reinforces the divisions among them.”
¿What can I or should I do with this knowledge? Allow me to share my list:
- Post this on my website and send the link to my friends and colleagues.
- Vote.
- Remind myself to be less judgmental and confrontational.
- Never avoid sharing a (non-alcoholic) beer with conservatives.