Stop the Hate!

 

I grew up in the 1960’s. 

I’ve been told how my dad addressed his fourth grade class to announce JFK has been murdered, tears streaming down his face. Even as a 9 year old, I understood the gravity of the assassinations of MLK and RFK. As a child, I mourned the loss of icons, people whom I knew mattered, despite my tender age.

Despite growing up in a predominantly white small town in Indiana, I was instilled with the belief that we humans were all created equal and that skin color, religion or ideology did not affect our acceptance. I truly did not encounter prejudice based upon race until I was at university. It shocked me. I was appalled. 

It was as also the first time that I first experienced the great political divide. That divide has continued to fester for decades. Polarization increased the chasm between left and right extremism exponentially.

But what had been lost in all of this divisiveness is the fact that most Americans do not identify with extreme ideology. Most of us are moderates- a little bit liberal and a little bit conservative. I believe most Americans are tolerant, don’t care what anyone believes or how they want to live as long as they don’t try to foist their beliefs on others. 

 Live as you want to live.  Live your true self. Believe  what you believe. Vote your conscience. But do not demonize those who disagree. 

I lived through the political assassinations of JFK, MLK, and RFK. I lived through the attempts to murder Ford & Reagan. I lived through Watergate, the Carter debacle, the embarrassment of GHWB barfing on the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister, the Clinton Whitewater/ Hubble/ Rose Law Firm/ Paula Jones/ Vince Foster\ Trooper Gate/ Lewinsky/ Gennifer Flowers/ etc Clinton years. 

For the last 3 election cycles people voted for the candidate they disdained the least. That is how we ended up with DJT twice. For the majority of the electorate he was less awful than Hillary and Kamala. That says a lot.

It seems unfathomable that we can’t find better candidates. Perhaps, however, the best options don’t want to be murdered by those who oppose them- like JFK, MLK, and RFK. Not everyone wants to be a martyr. 

Governor Spencer Cox of of Utah is What America Needs Today

 

Governor Spencer Cox of Utah just gave one of the finest speeches about the call for decency, civil discourse and tolerance that I’ve heard from a politician in decades as he discussed the apprehension of Charlie Kirk’s assassin. 

No matter one’s political ideology, the toxicity of the rhetoric, the encouragement to hate, the celebration of the death and the schadenfreude exhibited by politicians/ teachers/ influencers of any human being, the tolerance for crime, the focus on equity, the intolerance for ‘the other side’, the use of inflammatory language, the demonization of those with different ideas, the extreme ideologies, the victim syndrome, the go-fund me sites to support murderers, and the reckless disregard for our fellow humans as exhibited so horribly on the Charlotte train murders needs to stop.

If you can’t get over your biases enough to put aside petty grievances, make a decision to be kind, stop looking for reasons to be negative, accept that in America ‘we the people’ have the privilege to change our political class,  media outlets, the politically motivated public schools, and the trajectory of our nation by taking positive steps. Find better political candidates at the grass roots for local councils, school boards, or the zoning commissions. Change the channel, look at multiple media outlets, do the research and make up your own minds. Consider that MOST social media posts or memes about ideology are wrong, heavily edited to create bias, or taken out of context.

VOTE. And then accept the outcome of the elections. The pendulum always swings back and forth.

Stop re-electing politicians that have served so long they have forgotten their duty to support constituents instead of lobbyists.

Try practing random acts of kindness and tell nobody.

Pay it forward.

Insist on local leaders taking steps to eradicate crime, incarcerate violent criminals and send the mentally ill to a mental institution where they can get treatment in safety. Set up neighborhood watch groups. Stop the groupthink. 

Turn off social media. Read a book. Take a walk. Practice an attitude of gratitude. 

Now, I’m stepping off my soapbox and putting my iPad away for the rest of the day.

E Pluribus Unum