It looks as if even our elected officials are not immune to some heat crabbiness now and then. While St. Louis was scorched with a heat wave, Washington was being scorched by hot tempers on both the left and the right.

For the most part, the bitter arguments of the 115th Congress were confined to the debate centering on the Republican promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

This angry atmosphere is not a new phenomenon. There have always been long battles over complicated pieces of legislation or presidential nominees.

No. The real problem with these dramatic clashes of political rancor is not that they occur, it is that they occur far too regularly for them to be beneficial anymore.

And, instead of forcing compromises, these battles of will end up being more like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable wall. There is a gigantic collision, massive press, and when the dust settles down Americans wonder what has been accomplished.

The truth is, when super-powered collisions, overly partisan clarion calls, and dramatically staged roll call votes dominate nightly news, it means that nothing has been accomplished. And, when nothing has been accomplished, Americans suffer.

In fact, in his return speech to the Senate after recovering from surgery John McCain announced, “But they [debates] are more partisan, more tribal more of the time than any other time I remember… And right now they aren’t producing much for the American people.”

Senator McCain continued his speech hoping to impress upon his peers a sense of compromise and a return to the nobility the Senate has long enjoyed. He reminded senators that their position is a privilege, one steeped in service to the American people.

Hopefully our Congressmen and women make America great by focusing on ending all the hate and bitter partisan rhetoric and return to a body that values compromise and service above all  else.