Orlando and guns: Stephen Colbert just showed Congress how to get along

Gun control is always a polarizing subject, and especially after an event like the Orlando shootings. But constructive conversation is possible. Stephen Colbert just showed how.

Traveling years after 9/11, I noticed a distinction between how United States and Israel airport security worked. The US was focused on stopping the bomb, Israel was focused on stopping the bomber.

That distinction plays out again today in response to the shootings in Orlando, Fla. Some frame the problem around the weapon and call for more gun control. Others see the problem as the terrorist who pulled the trigger and call for more forceful action against the Islamic State and “Islamic jihadists.”

Those different ways to frame the issue were immediately made clear in Stephen Colbert’s Monday night discussion with Bill O’Reilly.

This was very, very different than what we generally find on the news and the Internet. For the most part, we find talking heads, partisans, and biased news outlets that continue their my-way-or-the-highway approach, belittling those on the other side and reinforcing divisions rather than solving problems.