When you look back to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, you can’t help but come away from that study without being quite impressed in a number of ways. First, you might be struck by the average age of the attendees, which was only 42. All the original states, except for the always rebellious Rhode Island (which many of the founders called “rogue island,” due to their relentlessly uncooperative spirit) sent delegates, and the average age would have been even younger had 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin not attended.

In addition, you would also be impressed by the remarkable knowledge found within the 55 attendees. You would see delegates with a deep understanding of the history of democracy, from Athens to Philadelphia. Other delegates were expert in law, philosophy, and military matters. You would be impressed by the individual running the convention, a giant of a man in that era, towering over the other delegates at 6’3″, George Washington. And you would be impressed, if not occasionally offended, by perhaps the most brilliant person there, Alexander Hamilton.

Their collective wisdom and experience resulted in the crafting of the longest surviving constitution; a remarkable document that sought to bind together a nation composed of divergent views, different regions, and tremendous opportunity. Overall, they did a brilliant job.

But they didn’t get everything exactly right…

In that era, many of the delegates held a deep belief in the basic goodness of humankind. With Hamilton as an outlier, the men who crafted the Constitution tended to think that people are basically good, and if government gets out of the way, greatness is possible. Hamilton, on the other hand, thought than men are “ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious,” and therefore needed a strong governmental structure to hold back the worst of man while allowing the good to shine through.

One area where, in hindsight, it appears that Hamilton was right, and the others were wrong, is what today we call partisanship. The original Constitution stated that the person who won the most votes in the electoral college would become president, and the person who finished second would become vice-president. The thought was that the best two men would get elected and would govern together.

Clearly, the Founders got this one wrong.

We quickly saw special interest groups, which they called “factions,” forming in the political world. The most dominant of those groups we now call political parties. The degree to which the early Americans divided along party lines was quite shocking to some, and the 12th Amendment was passed fairly early on, creating a slate of two candidates for president and vice-president, because, you know, politics.

I thought of those early founders when I read a recent Colorado Politics story that reported on the degree of bipartisanship shown by Colorado’s elected members of the House and Senate. Traditionally, most of the work of the federal legislative branch takes place in a bipartisan manner. Most proposed legislation, for most of our history, has not been seen as particularly partisan. Lots and lots of legislation was usually passed in a calm and bipartisan way that rarely attracted the attention of the media. But in recent years partisanship has become more and more the norm.

In recent years (cough…Trumptime…cough) things have gotten even worse. In early 2020, then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell boasted that there were nearly 400 bills that had passed the House but that he intended to take no action on. Being rigidly partisan, especially for the Trumpian GOP today, has become a badge of honor rather than a sign of poor legislating.

And the aforementioned CP story noted that the Common Ground Committee (which I am not personally familiar with) had scored our delegation on their commitment to bipartisanship (which, again, has been a good thing for most of our history). Rep. Joe Neguse has scored well, as has (my old friend) Jason Crow. Sen. Hickenlooper scored the highest on cooperation, with (my old boss) Michael Bennet not far behind.

Guess who didn’t score too well, hmm?

Freshman GOPer Rep. Lauren Boebert scored only 4 points out of a possible 110. And the sad thing is that I’m quite sure she is rather proud of that. Simply rejecting everything that Joe Biden proposes is both a simplistic and politically astute move, if the Trumpers continue to run the GOP, which appears to be the case. Never mind that there are bridges, roads, power grids, and other vital infrastructure gains for Colorado in the recent bill passed, none of the three Colorado Republicans in the House voted for a bill. Because for a Republican to be bipartisan in today’s politics is to be, well, a traitor who should be ousted.

The modern GOP simply has no shame. Heck, a Republican congressman from Arizona recently thought there was nothing wrong with tweeting an animated cartoon in which he murders Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword. Advocating murder is OK? He is unrepentant, which certainly says something about today’s GOP.

Sadly, I don’t see it getting better anytime soon. Boebert recently set a fundraising record and has nearly $2 million sitting in the bank. And the House GOP leadership has done nothing to sanction the death threat by one of its members.

The Founders may have underestimated our ability to become partisan, but I suspect they would shudder at what we have become. To disagree is to be un-American and to cooperate with a political rival over a policy question is to be a traitor. Until we, as a state and as a nation, decide that we don’t want this type of representative anymore, nothing will change. I wish I was more optimistic, but I worry little will change for years to come. And that’s a real shame.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.