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.