I was, for some reason, a bit shocked to come across this article from Fox News this morning:
“A North Dakota man charged with killing a teenager using his vehicle has reportedly admitted to intentionally hitting him after a political dispute, claiming the boy was part of a Republican "extremist group."
As a political commentator, I understand how politically charged some issues are. I’ve been called stupid, misinformed, and wrong. I’ve had people tell me my articles are “s***” when no one asked anyways. I’m not entirely innocent of being a sarcastic little jerk to those who disagree with me sometimes. I’m also not innocent of being a sarcastic little jerk to those who agree with me sometimes. Politics is something to be laughed at.
Or it should be.
America loves to fight. And politics are literally a matter of life and death to some people. People will insult each other and be plain hateful over a political issue that isn’t even going to affect them anyway. No one laughs over politics, and no one cries either. Everyone fights. Everyone insults. Everyone spits knives.
But, threatening to kill someone who disagrees with you politically is nowhere near carrying out a threat. Even rejoicing over the death of a political enemy is different from causing that death. Certainly there are plenty of threats from people with forked tongues on social media. The problem is, social media is no longer a place that brings out the worst of the world, the world is becoming a place that draws the worst out of social media. Social media skirmishes have turned into from pulling an ax out at your local Mickey-D’s. Debating your crazy uncle’s friend’s cousin’s son has turned into running him over with your car. America is becoming divisive, depressed, and, well…deadly. Time Magazine reports that “The homicide numbers for the first half of 2022, which are based on data from 23 cities, are still 39% higher than they were in the same time period of 2019 (...) Aggravated assaults and robberies both increased by 4% and 19% respectively. Property crimes also increased by 6% while larceny went up by 20%, residential burglaries rose by 6% and motor vehicle thefts jumped up by 15%.”
We’re past the point where we can say that this crime spike is only fueled by pandemic boredom. Increasingly, people are literally losing their minds. There is no middle ground to be found, there is no common discussion concerning where the country is going. How much division is enough for America? When will President Unity push efforts to control crime and stop using offensive rhetoric? When will we learn to laugh?
No one, absolutely no one, in any position of authority or influence, is doing a darn thing to help us out of this crisis. Jussie Smollet faked a mugging to smear America as a racist country. Mobs rioted for the better part of a year over the death of a criminal. Certain Trump supporters thought it was acceptable to storm the Capitol building. The radical left is pushing a radical left agenda, and the radical right is too preoccupied crying over Trumpty Dumpty and shouting about Q’Anon. We can’t even laugh at jokes anymore because they’re all racist, or sexist, or homophobic, or…. Public libraries and schools are pushing drag queen shows on seven year olds. We can’t even agree on what a woman is. We can’t agree that being morbidly obese isn’t healthy. Worst of all, we can’t even live with our differences. To have members of society think differently is normal and healthy, even if some segment of the population is plain stupid. But everyone wants to shut up everyone else. Even the slightest disagreement is grounds for the breakoff of a friendship. Seriously, imagine if Jesus counted the differences of opinion he had with the billions of people whose souls he died to save as reason for letting us all perish.
Worse, political leaders aren’t even trying to help.
“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
“But there is no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to this country.”
“And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people.”
“MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies.”
Those quotes, all of which can be read on the White House’s official website, legitimately came from the mouth of Joe Biden. This was no political rally, nor is Joe Biden a presidential candidate. He is the President of the United States. Using his official position to slander those who didn’t vote for him is dishonorable and offensive. Biden spent no time criticizing the just-as-whacky-as-those-MAGA-people radical left side of his own party, but focused all his energy on saying that was going to unite our nation as long as MAGA Republicans aren’t a part of it.
So what is our solution, America? What are we supposed to do? We’ve dug a pit for ourselves. Our two best presidential candidates in 2020 were literally two of the most divisive people America has ever seen. Isn’t that concerning?
It’s time to look at where we’re going. Have we honestly come to the point where we run people over because they disagree with us politically? Are politics really so important that we’re going to shoot, loot, and murder until we get what we want?
It’s truly sad that our great country is being ruined and demolished by Republicans, by Democrats, and by insane rogues. Until we pull the brakes on things like social media and policies - such as New York’s “bail reform” law - that encourage division and violence, the only thing America will be united on is its own destruction.
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