When your lover makes a recess appointment - its time to court their allies.

In addition to the routine name-calling and exposures of incompetence, political debate has recently escalated to accusations of treason and spitting. These in turn, are being countered with the more civil, but more dangerous, use of constitutional loopholes like "recess appointments" in the US and "proroguing Parliament" in Canada.

This week President Obama shocked the Republican Party for bypassing Senate consent of 15 appointees by waiting for Congress to recess, in order to make "recess appointments". Republicans had been refusing to vote on Obama's recommendations holding up the appointment of 15 positions for an average of seven months. While used in the past by President Bush, this time it was used for a controversial appointment that did not even have unanimous Democratic support.

In Canada, at the end of December 2009, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper "prorogued Parliament" - closing it down for two months, until March 3, 2010. The Conservative government's move was labelled as "almost despotic" by some because the government's record was being challenged by new evidence regarding for their complicity in the Afghan detainees affair.

When commitment to civil dialogue and the spirit of the constitution are abandoned, what's the point of talking anymore? When distrust threatens a country's constitution, it's time to take a lesson from the book of love.

The American constitution was formed at the height of the Romantic Movement. As such it hailed the "common sense" of the people as the new moral authority replacing King George's divine right to rule. The "common sense" of the small, but heavily persecuted Baptist Church and Jefferson's secular rationalists, was their wall of separation. Once America appreciates that their constitutional wall of separation is actually the love-child of today's arch enemies--the same ones currently at each other's throats fighting before the Supreme Court over custody of the constitution--romance will return.

Like everyone in relationship free-fall, each side will desperately court the favour of their lover's allies and new alliances will break ground like daffodils in spring. As Oscar Wilde put it "The proper basis for a marriage is mutual misunderstanding."

Does this mean that America's founding relationship meant nothing? No, it effectively broke up the Anthony and Cleopatra love affair between the institutional churches and the monarchs. Cleopatra's absolute monarchies are gone for good. Consequently, each American subject was elevated to status of philosopher king, free to choose both their God and their political ruler. The Jefferson/Baptist union produced many beautiful children. Reason and religion both flourished.

Today's problem is that half of their offspring are courting science, the other half religion. The Union stays unhappily married only because both assume there are no other suitors and there is no common ground between them. Cynicism has finally broken America's founding relationship. But assumptions of no common ground are based on outdated information. The Catholic Church forgave Galileo in December 2008. And some philosophers, like Jurgen Habermas, are actually acknowledging the wisdom of religion over science. The Baptists just might get tired of fighting with the scientists and start hanging out with the philosophy majors.

When your lover spits in your face, prorogues Parliament, or makes recess appointments, it’s time to open up your dance card and court their allies. You would be surprised who might be interested and what beautiful children you might create.