Constitutional scholar Dr. David Gray Adler, in his address to citizens in Coeur d'Alene recently, put the onus of keeping our nation great - no, making it even greater - on you.

The greatest responsibility for making this constitutional republic falls squarely on the shoulders of its citizens, he declared, but he didn't leave everybody helpless in the chaotic wilderness of political, economic and religious rancor without a road map.

Here it is. These are Dr. Adler's five principles for rebuilding America.

1. Stop political labeling. Labeling, he said, is "the lazy citizen's way of behaving." (The same can be said of elected officials who resort to labeling their opponents.) Don't cling to ideologies; analyze proposals or policies using your own skills, and ask hard questions. Rather than dismiss a proposal as merely conservative or liberal mumbo jumbo, dissect it and look for specifics - what specifically is good about it? What specifically is bad?

2. Listen. "Nobody has a corner on the market of political wisdom," Dr. Adler said. Through discussion and debate, he said, we can all learn more. Listening is the key, he said, because it helps us learn more about our own views when we compare them with others'. We must ask questions, and when we have clearly heard the replies and considered them, we can then reach our own judgments and conclusions.

3. Be fair to opponents. As popular as coercion, intimidation and interruption seem to be these days, Dr. Adler said, they gain nothing because they preclude healthy discussion and debate. It is the latter that leads to informed consent, and informed consent fuels democracy. This is where civility is so important. "We need to step back," Dr. Adler said. "We need to calm down." And quite famously he concluded the third principle with these words of wisdom: "Today's political opponent might be tomorrow's political ally."

4. Avoid the politics of destruction. The war materiel of talk show hosts and others who have sought to destroy opponents are the words one cannot take back. Dr. Adler cited Rush Limbaugh's shameful verbal assault of a college student as one example, but he said the politics of destruction are bipartisan. "Words ought not to be bullets," he said. "Be tough on the issue but tender toward people," he added, quoting the late U.S. Sen. James McClure, R-Idaho.

5. Avoid ideological flags. When you're in a bunker with your ideology, Dr. Adler said, you lose the opportunity to compromise. And compromise, he said, is "the engine that makes our system work. Ideological hardening of the arteries... prevents discussion, prevents compromise." Dissent is healthy - in fact, he said, it plays a critical role in our system - but dissent also requires respecting those who disagree with us. "Dissenting is not unpatriotic," he emphasized. "It's not a sign of disloyalty." And he reiterated an important theme: "The expression of opinions are opportunities to learn."

Dr. Adler imparted these principles in the framework of our state and federal government, but everybody listening to him clearly understood that the application on an even more local level could reap great benefits. Let's put the principles to practice and see how good we can get.