Divided We Elect

Election Day is coming and, especially during the debates, I can feel it getting hotter and hotter in our kitchen of democracy. Passions are at a very high level. Some people, it seems, can't understand, accept or even abide the folks on the other side. Since this is the first real presidential election since Facebook has become a global power, we are seeing a new phenomenon. People can now post whatever they want about the candidates, their supporters and anything they want, really, about the  election. Before, people could post on articles and blogs, but we had to be readers of that article or blog to be exposed to it. Now, I'll be scrolling through my wall and see some pretty nasty stuff, and this comes from people who, for 3 1/2 years after this election, won't mention much of a peep about politics.

I just want to remind everyone that, unless you only spend time with people who think exactly the way you do, the people that you speak about and to with such disdain and contempt are your brothers and sisters, moms and dads, neighbors, friends and coworkers. They serve you at restaurants. They fix your house and your car. They drive your buses and check you out at the supermarket. They are your fellow Americans that would not hesitate for one second to look in on your pet, gather your mail, lend you a tool or a hand in your yard. They are the people who will be there in a tragedy to lift you up, dust you off and help you find the hope that is needed for the future.

When you are utterly baffled at how they could possibly support the guy they do, consider what would happen if you had to fight alongside a Democrat or Republican to protect our land. How would you perceive them then? How would you treat them? I believe that that is the way you should perceive them and treat them now.

We always refer to our military as the people who protect our cherished freedoms. They have and they do. They are fighting so that we can disagree with each other. I doubt that a Marine that is huddled in a cold, muddy trench somewhere in Afghanistan would take much satisfaction in thinking that the rights that they are fighting for are making us hate each other.

Citizen involvement in politics is what has set this country apart from all others and has made us a model that emerging democracies have been copying since 1776. Be involved. Speak your mind. Vote. If you care to expend your energy doing it, feel free to try to convert people to what you believe. But save the anger. Those who don't agree with you are just being good Americans. They are taking advantage of the very thing that makes us American. That is, the right to think and vote how they want.

Why don't they think like you? I can't think of a more impossible question to answer.

So, be nice. You catch more flies with honey, anyway.