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Some of the great ethical questions of our day are present in political discourse. Difficult issues such as abortion and the torture of prisoners define the landscape of American politics. Democrats try to set a socially permissive standard without alienating people of faith; Republicans attempt to balance safety and security with other universal principles.

The debate is vicious and often results in a country divided by controversy. Nevertheless, these are matters of great importance. If hot-blooded dinner table conversations are the price that must be paid for well-considered policies, then so be it.

However, sometimes people fall in love with the fight. No issue becomes too unimportant to warrant a protest or letter-writing campaign. Sanctimonious hacks are given unlimited air time, and others play along.

The extreme flanks of both parties are threatening to hijack American politics with preposterous nonsense. In Gwinnet County, Ga., the school board has been embroiled in a heated battle over the fate of the Harry Potter books. Laura Mallory, a mother of one of the district’s students, has claimed that J. K. Rowling’s books promote the Wiccan religion and should be banned.

Georgia lags in education when compared to the national average. Attrition is rampant throughout the state’s schools; a 20 percent high school dropout rate makes Georgia one of the three worst states in the country at retaining students. The National Center for Education Statistics (NSA) reports literacy rates that place the state in the bottom third of the nation.

The Harry Potter books are hundreds of pages long without illustrations. If Harry Potter is the only 500 page novel a Georgia child is willing to read, we shouldn’t ban it, we should hire J. K. Rowling to write biology textbooks, too.

However, no one political party has a monopoly on the ridiculous or absurd. Groups on the left insist that, in the name of religious inclusivism, Christmas trees decorated by cities and states be called “Holiday Trees.”

The National Security Agency’s (NSA) program of warrantless wiretapping and Congress’s newly suggested military tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees still present undecided constitutional questions, but I’m glad to see that the ACLU spends its time ensuring that a menorah is actually a “Holiday Candlestick.”

Although separating church and state is certainly important, I am unaware of biblical references to ornately decorated spruce trees. Meanwhile, the same groups who argue religious tolerance for the legion of Baha’i-bumper-stickered Volvo drivers are all too quick to call Vacation Bible School “indoctrination.” If one group can recruit, then they all can.

What passes for “breaking news” is an embarrassment. As we dance to the music of these lunatic ramblings, each day we miss an opportunity to search for ways to make the world better. America incarcerates an unprecedented number of its citizens. The national debt is astronomical, and many economists worry that the value of the dollar will be threatened by this generosity.

More Americans have died in Iraq than died during the Sept. 11 attacks that precipitated the war. Millions languish in poverty and homelessness. In the face of all this, we bicker over children’s books and Christmas trees.

The issues are asinine, and the attention they garnish is an unconscionable waste of time, energy and printers ink.

Jason Schwalm is a first-year student at the Brandeis School of Law. E-mail him at opinion@louisvillecardinal.com.