By: centraljersey.com
I felt very secure this past Saturday night. I was sitting in the warm and cozy environment of the Nassau Inn’s ballroom surrounded by plates of steak, chicken, fish and – several dozen Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad (PFARS) personnel, plus a handful of Princeton University public safety employees and rescue squad members from surrounding towns, in particular. The occasion was the installation dinner of the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad, to which I was invited in my role as a representative of Princeton HealthCare System, not as a rescue squad volunteer. The only thing I have ever saved in my life is a calorie or two with artificial sweetener.
My sense of well-being had little to do, however, with my proximity to those men and women with remarkable life-saving skills that could be used to help me, if needed. Rather, the good vibes I was receiving related to the powerful message their actions communicate to us every day. It occurred to me – at some point between the salad and the entree – that rescue squad personnel personify a message expressed by President Obama in his speech honoring those who had lost their lives in the Tucson shooting rampage and by MSNBC "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough, who spoke Jan. 14 at the New Jersey Hospital Association Annual Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Princeton.
In their respective presentations, the President and the talk show host conveyed a similar theme to different audiences, in different circumstances, with different styles. They encouraged people to celebrate and broadcast their differences and different points of view, while denouncing hate-filled political rhetoric. The priority should be working together to solve the nation’s problems, instead of creating an environment of hate that makes doing so impossible. Even though the hate-speak these days may grab the media’s attention, they said, we are in fact a nation filled with individuals of all political persuasions who have shown time and again that we have to ability to come together to work for our common health and well-being.
As I surveyed the ballroom for familiar faces, I recognized a host of people who in their day-o -ay interactions have been rivals in politics, rivals in their professions, even rivals for leadership positions within their own community organizations. Yet none of these disagreements had poisoned the working environment and were unimportant when it came time to doing the job that the public trusted they would do so well – save lives.
When an emergency call came in during the middle of dinner, the Plainsboro EMS members – who were covering for their Princeton colleagues – jumped up from their chairs, left their steaks and charged out of the room, it was irrelevant whether one of them was a Republican, Democrat, in favor of Obama health care or in favor of maintaining tax cuts for millionaires. They acted as a team to respond and do their job.
Mark Freda, who was honored at the dinner for his 35 years of service to PFARS, has been a very opinionated community leader, never to be accused of falling into the "mushy middle," in Joe Scarborough’s words. A former Borough Council member, Mark has mastered the art of vehement but respectful opposition and then of working together to find a solution.
Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman from Florida, has built his "Morning Joe" show around the premise that it is possible to have "lively debates, honest arguments backed by facts with one’s adversaries, without the hate rhetoric … Americans are sick and tired of partisan warfare." His show features his co-host Mika Brzezinski, whose liberal, progressive positions balance Joe’s generally conservative positions. And on the show, they lead provocative debates among political commentators and elected officials people of all political persuasions. He gave examples of how highly visible elected officials – considered to be polar opposites – have often made good decisions through collaboration with one another, with Chris Christie and Corey Booker topping the list.
"I have a passion for democracy – and the core of that passion is the expression of differences of opinions in an environment that fosters conversation and ultimately good decisions that allow us to move forward, not be paralyzed by contention," Mr.Scarborough said.
Joe and Mika have been pushing for politically integrated seating at the State of the Union speech tonight. Instead of the traditional self-segregation system of Republicans sitting on one side of the aisle and the Democrats on the other, some elected officials post-Tucson suggested this radical seating arrangement to prove that no one gets cooties by sitting next to someone with opposing points of views.
I wonder what inspired this radical thought – perhaps it was the annual installation dinner of the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad?
A longtime resident of Princeton, Pam Hersh is vice president for government and community affairs with Princeton HealthCare System. She is a former managing editor of The Princeton Packet.

