I have to admit to having hit a period
when I wasn't sure what I should post about. I found there were so
many things I could comment upon that I didn't know where to start.
I got to thinking about how it is our
nation has gotten where it is today, with political divisiveness
having driven so many of us into to diametrically opposed camps that
discussion has become almost impossible as one side insists only its
viewpoints are valid and that their opposite side's viewpoints are
wrong, or worse, evil. It's as if we've become two different nations.
I don't care what your political
beliefs happen to be. I doubt very much that you care about mine. But
one thing I can assure you of is that if this artificially created
division is not healed, we won't survive as a nation. What makes this
particularly painful is that this divide was something created by the
very leaders we've elected over the past decade or so. (The problem
started earlier than that, but it finally came to a head during the
Bush Administration.)
Ronald Reagan, one of the better
presidents we've had during the 20th century, knew how to
reach across the aisle and work with the opposition party. While
Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill (D-MA) didn't agree with some of the
things Reagan was promoting, the two were able to work together and
get our ailing nation working again. But that kind of bipartisanship
is missing these days and even though the President keeps making
mention of working with House and Senate Republicans, that hasn't
happened in the almost 5 years he's held office and it appears it
might not happen over the next three years. The political divide has
poisoned relations in Washington DC and has been doing likewise in a
number of states. The so-called Blue States vs Red States has set two
opposing viewpoints to clash head to head, with much of the same
rhetoric being thrown around as that in Washington. It helps no one
and makes us even more divided.
The Fourth Estate certainly hasn't
helped the situation, become less news oriented and more opinion
oriented. They used to be the guardians of truth, but have since
abandoned their role and become less interested in truth (based upon
verifiable facts) and more in the “Truth” (defined by
ideology).While in the past the media reported the news - the Who,
What, Where, When, and How that was their forte – and letting
opinion reside in the editorial sections of newspapers and newscasts,
today much of the media has become a de facto propaganda organ for
the government. Opinion now masquerades as news, with reporters
presenting their opinions within their reports. Factual reporting
need not apply.
Our problems are many. It doesn't
matter who's at fault. All that matters is that we figure out a way
of our problems and the only way to do that is to stop listening to
those who have a vested interest in keeping us divided, those who see
themselves as our 'betters', those who believe that we cannot think
for ourselves and have to be told what to think. It's time to tell
them to “Piss off!”, to roll up our sleeves, and get back to
making our nation what it once was.