Divisiveness

With the election approaching, I want to talk about something that has gripped our country for the better part of the last 8 years, if not since Clinton was impeached...the political divisiveness and the "I'm right, you're wrong" mantra that has gripped the U.S.

One of the things that makes America great is that we are free to speak our mind. We have the freedom to enter a voting booth every 4th year in November and choose (yes choose) the next leader of our country without fear of government reprimand or any immediate consequences. That, my friends, is what our founding fathers strove to provide to us. They did not intend for us to become a country split into red states or blue states. We were to be a country that had the common good of all of our citizens in mind when we enacted policies or when we went about our daily lives; not a country that bows to so-called political pressures in, for example, choosing a VP candidate that can step in and lead the country if need be or reverts to name-calling and personally attacking one another based on our own intrinsic beliefs.

These last 8 years have been a trying time for the U.S, regardless of what your political ideology is. As trying as this was, I fear that we are in for a bumpier ride for the next 4 - regardless of who is elected President. From the Right, all that you hear about Obama is that he is Jimmy Carter, Part II; he's inexperienced; his wife is not proud of her country; and the best one, he's a Muslim that will sidle up with Al-Qaeda and will internally destroy the U.S. From the left, you hear McBush or McSame; "4 more years of the last 8", etc.

Let's get one thing clear: just because you may personally disagree with a politician's philosophies doesn't mean that you can bash me personally for not falling lock-step into your mind-set. I see hate spewing from both sides against the respective candidates, but you will never hear me personally attack a supporter of the opposition. Don't call me stupid or dumb or anything else, simply because I do not support your stance.

Before we bash the opposition, or call our friends stupid for their beliefs, or post a blog full of hatred and outright lies, or forward around that email that is untrue, let's all remember one thing - we're all Americans. Not Red Americans or Blue Americans. Americans. Let's get back to what makes us a great country - supporting one another through thick and thin because we're Americans - no matter the color of one's skin or their religious affiliation; whether they're rich or poor; Democrat or Republican and end this nonsensical divisiveness.

MK