Yes, our Constitution enshrines a federalist balance of power between branches and levels that is reflected downward through state and local governments such that at it permeates even book club meetings. Governing this way, sharing power, requires compromise. Americans are actually pretty darn good at it. But compromise has its limits. Some things--not many--cannot be compromised. In fact, there are only three. Here they are:
1. The Fiscal Death Spiral. Our governments (at all levels) have spent too much money and made too many promises. The debt, like any ponzi scheme, is killing us. The only question is how long it will take and who will yield the death axe. Either you believe this to be true or you don't. It's binary. There is no point in discussing whether it is fair to cut back on Pell Grants, etc. There is nothing to compromise about.
2. The Creation Of Life. Either God creates life, or He does not. If He does, then only He can end it. It sounds like compromise to allow it to be done only in the case of rape or incest, but it's not. In conceding that there are circumstances under which a life can be ended by man, one is denying that only God may do so. There is in fact nothing to compromise about. Abortion is murder, or it isn't.
3. The Right To Free Speech. Either one believes that the right of free speech is something the government can only recognize but never restrict, or one does not. It sounds like a compromise to except yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre, but that is a category error. It's not speech that is illegal in that example, but the causing of riot. It would be equally as illegal to introduce the smell of burning wood into the theatre to induce a stampede. Either one stands for the premise that all speech is protected (particularly that which one finds loathsome), or one does not.
These are the only three. Everything else is up for discussion.
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