Yesterday I was angry, sad, seriously concerned about the direction of our country

 Yesterday I was angry, sad, seriously concerned about the direction of our country 

We have both parties, as alleged representatives of the population, sniping at each other as the entire country seemingly moves in two opposite directions, while living together in two parallel realities unwilling or unable to understand why the other sees the world as they do.  There is no desire to talk, to compromise, to agree, to find a common understanding. 

We are too quick to paint our neighbor as our enemy, as hate spews forth from our posts, while we remain cordial to each other in our backyards.  We have turned an international pandemic into political squabbling where everyone has become an expert in infectious diseases when most of us barely passed high school science or college stats, but we are still able to find memes and graphs which support what we are being told by those politicians that benefit and honestly don’t care if we get sick or not.

Side note: Wear a fucking mask, what is the downside?

We have another black man shot in the back, in his car, in front of his children in Kenosha WI by the police captured on video.  We are told we cannot believe what we saw with our eyes (hello Orwellian images of 1984).  We have both sides screaming back at each other, not listening to what the other side is saying.  We have one side saying we should have unquestioning faith in their ability to make hard decisions while subsequently taking away the public’s ability to question that judgement.  Who then should hold the police accountable to serve and protect without allowing them to also be the judge, jury and executioner?

We have one side stating pure lies about the other side, with no interest in understanding why they are not true but spreading them simply to support their perspective of demonizing the opposition and reinforcing what they want to believe to be true. People believe these lies without as much questioning the validity of them or wondering about the outlandishness of the claims and then try to paint the other half of the American population as believing those lies to be true. 

Everything is being framed in finite terms, with only black and white world with no shades of grey and no color spectrum what-so-ever, and nothing in the middle.  We have people believing ridiculous conspiracy theories and believing egregious lies, making it easier to hate and demonize the opposition. 

There is no way we can continue down the path we are going without some sort of major collision that will end poorly for us as a country. 

If the toddler in chief wins then the left is furious especially if it is yet another electoral college victory only.  If Biden wins, I assume at least 30% of the country will believe the fix is in (as that is what they have been told). The other problem is if Biden wins, I believe he will attempt to govern the entire country, and those same 30% will refuse to be led by him, driving a larger wedge into our society. How will the progressives react when he pivots rights to appease? Will the turtle try to block all executive agenda points if they retain the senate, like he did with Obama? There is no positive outcome in any of these scenarios. The only question I have is Biden going to be a replay of James Buchanan or Abraham Lincoln (not necessarily rising to the occasion, but as for the precipice of the next Civil War)

What is the end game for either side? I am not sure they care as they are all lining their pockets with the decisiveness.  Everyone gets rewarded by this except those that have the most to lose, We the People.  Until we decide it is enough, and the politicians need to speak for us, not for corporations, not for lobbyists, not for the media, then we will continue moving at light speed awaiting the collision. Maybe a meteor hitting Earth the day before our elections is a good idea, but also a very American centric perspective as it would screw everyone else on the planet too. 

 Do we all support another Civil War?  Are we ready to send our kids to war with our neighbors?  Would we accept a secession of some states similar to what the traitorous Confederacy tried in 1860? I don’t believe the geographic break is as easy as it was then, as we have many states divided, are those going to fracture as well? 

Is this the future?

The Unraveling of America - Rolling Stone

"How can the rest of the world expect America to lead on global threats — climate change, the extinction crisis, pandemics — when the country no longer has a sense of benign purpose, or collective well-being, even within its own national community? Flag-wrapped patriotism is no substitute for compassion; anger and hostility no match for love. Those who flock to beaches, bars, and political rallies, putting their fellow citizens at risk, are not exercising freedom; they are displaying, as one commentator has noted, the weakness of a people who lack both the stoicism to endure the pandemic and the fortitude to defeat it.” –

Quotes from What does it mean to be an American?

Becoming American means following the rules. It means respecting your neighbors, in your own neighborhood. —Francine Sharp, 73, retired teacher in Kansas (born in Kansas)

If you work hard, you get good things in life. —José, college student/roofer; immigrant without legal status in Tulsa, Oklahoma (born in Mexico)

Being American is making a change, and making good changes. Being American is being welcoming, being caring about other people, being proud of the country. And it’s forgiveness. It’s not holding grudges on anything—I mean, where’s that going to get you? —Natalie Villafranca, 14, in Texas (born in Dallas)

Being American means protection by the law. Anyone can say whatever they want and, even if I don’t agree with them, they’re still protected by the law it’s my job to enforce. That’s their freedom. That’s their right. —Sean Larkin, 40, sergeant with Tulsa Police Department’s gang unit in Tulsa, Oklahoma (born in Virginia)