Tip-Off #179 – Seeing clearly

The best basketball players know that focusing straight ahead creates a dangerous blind spot. Their mastery comes from seeing the entire court, where the action at the edges matters as much as what’s directly in front of them. Peripheral vision is 20/20. Watch Steph Curry: he never just stares at the hoop. His eyes constantly scan the court, reading every movement.

Donald Trump induces tunnel vision—a one-track mind. Among supporters and those presumably more enlightened, we may be catching his sleight of hand. But also off to the side are conservatives who care about their integrity after all, and liberals who aren’t always self-righteous. Joining them are “think tanks” diminished by that label and by bland familiarity (except for the Heritage Foundation, now notorious: “Project 2025”).

With daily disasters—fires, plane crashes, Cabinet appointees, and purging the FBI—the president and the media force us to look straight ahead. No action seems sufficient to address the political craziness at hand. We’re continually caught off guard, sometimes very deliberately. How can we match wily leaders dancing for disaster, counting on chaos? “Things will never be the same again!”

Václav Havel, the artist and activist who led Czechoslovakia’s liberation from Soviet rule, may inspire us with his simple words. Imprisoned again, enduring ridicule firsthand, he wrote, “The slightest moral act, without hope of immediate and visible political effect, can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance.” (The Power of the Powerless)

The official U.S. Congress website, congress.gov maintains current listings of all Representatives and Senators. For the House of Representatives specifically, you can find the official directory at house.gov. The Senate’s official listing can be found at senate.gov. For the White House and “5Calls,” see notes at the end.

This overview of other available opportunities may be unnecessary for some, but it may be a reminder. When personal engagement with any of these is not feasible—although all offer that opportunity—financial support funds work we cannot undertake independently. Amid myriad alternatives, these stand out. I hope you will share any important additions or critiques in the comments section of this Substack. This could be good information to pass on to others at a loss for what they can do.

Organizations such as Brookings, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and the Atlantic Council address hot-button issues through substantial policy work to bridge political differences. They offer various forms of public engagement, including forums, workshops, and seminars.

• The Brookings Institution leans left but bases its work on serious research and practical solutions. Instead of pushing dogma, they seek common ground beyond compromise.

• The Bipartisan Policy Center brings together Democratic and Republican policy specialists for joint research initiatives and real-time issue resolution. Founded by former Senate leaders from both parties, it develops detailed plans for problems ranging from immigration to infrastructure where partisan paralysis has stymied progress but public consensus may be achievable.

• National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD)—known for its work with state legislatures and Congress. Their workshops and programs have engaged thousands of elected officials and citizens.

When it comes to issues like abortion and immigration, where values and morals are most clearly at odds with each other—bodily autonomy versus fetal personhood, national sovereignty versus humanitarian concern—the dilemma is at its deepest. Instead of discussing abstract concepts, these organizations look for compromises, such as how healthcare access can lower abortion demand or how guest worker programs can reconcile human dignity and border security.

The Bipartisan Policy Center leads this approach through “Bridge-Builder Breakfasts,” where legislators draft policy together. Brookings contributes through research-focused forums, while The Atlantic Council convenes broader dialogue through events like its annual Festival. Each creates space for progress without requiring moral consensus. The National Institute for Civil Discourse advances this work through structured dialogues and legislative workshops, training elected officials and citizens in techniques for productive engagement across differences.

Sometimes values are incommensurate, but these approaches help move discussion from absolute positions to practical solutions that acknowledge moral complexity.

The widely respected and potentially far-reaching resources listed below are also available.

• Quiet power—Democracy Forward, the legal group behind the temporary stay on the freeze order. Active in numerous pending cases, it has filed over 700 since 2017, winning key battles for reproductive rights, labor protections, and free speech. It has partnered with hundreds of organizations across 37 states, frequently with the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

• Pew Research Center—Pew provides unbiased data and analysis on social issues, demographics, and public opinion, offering a factual foundation for dialogue.

• Braver Angels—Workshops, debates, and forums aimed at fostering civil dialogue between conservatives and liberals. Mónica Guzmán, Senior Fellow for Public Practice and author of I Never Thought of It That Way (2024).

• Moral Courage College—founded by Irshad Manji, an award-winning author and educator. “We teach people the skills to turn heated issues into healthy conversations and sustained teamwork.” See her book Don’t Label Me: How to Do Diversity Without Inflaming the Culture Wars (2020). “Profound and nuanced, this book is jubilantly intelligent and quintessentially human and optimistic, fundamentally important in a dangerously polarized and divided time.” – The Toronto Star.

• On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century—Timothy Snyder (2017). “In politics, deception is not an excuse.” – Leszek Kolakowski. – Snyder is a professor of history at Yale University.

• Letters from an American (Substack)—Heather Cox Richardson, an American historian at Boston College. Politically independent. Richardson’s “Letters” is probably the best political web platform, updated almost daily. 1,500–2,000 words, with a meticulous listing in footnotes for everything said.

Mere Civility: Disagreement and the Limits of Toleration – Teresa M. Bejan (2017). Professor of political theory at Oxford, UK, and a Fellow of Oriel College. Bejan is a rising star in political theory whose groundbreaking work has already received international acclaim. – A short piece by Bejan, dated but timely: “You don’t have to be nice to political opponents. But you do have to talk to them” – The Washington Post (March 8, 2017).

5Calls is the easiest and most effective way for U.S. constituents to make a political impact. – Great app that gives you scripts for different issues and the phone numbers to call. You can also copy and paste into an email.

White House – Phone Numbers:

• Switchboard: (202) 456-1414

• Comments Line: (202) 456-1111

• TTY/TDD for Comments: (202) 456-6213

• Visitors Office: (202) 456-2121

Email: comments@whitehouse.gov

Tip-Off #178 – And now. . .

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