Column: Partisanship and consistency

Bias is inherent, even for the most critical thinkers.

Lisa Cosgrove, clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, wrote, “It is part of the human condition to have implicit biases.”

The problem, however, is when bias remains blissfully, even willfully un-imagined and unaddressed. Political bias, specifically partisanship, allows people to create an image of a candidate and their party that completely absolves that figure of all wrong-doing or moral misguidance.

A popular topic that remains a subject of debate among both parties is the history of sexual harassment and assault by President Trump and presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Trump’s sexual misconduct and allegations totaled 43 as of March 2 while Biden’s reached eight.

If your first reaction to reading the difference in numbers was to either minimize the severity of these allegations or feel relief at a “lower” number, I have no qualms telling you that these are the wrong reactions.

Sexual misconduct, regardless of repeated or singular instances, is horrible. There should not be a lighter judgment of allegations based on party affiliation.

If we are going to be critical people in politics, we should be equally critical of our associated parties. I find myself further dissociating from the current two-party system, so I have a hard stance against partisanship, but understand that I can be equally fallible in my judgments.

However, I do believe that if one is to continue to be partisan, then they must dedicate themselves to unraveling these biases to hold their party accountable. Otherwise, one is not practicing partisanship nor loyalty but hypocrisy.

If you must be partisan, be consistent.