It is time to move on

Last week marked the end of the meanest, most divisive political campaign that I have ever had the misfortune of witnessing in my short 42 years on this planet.  It proved one thing: That this country is more divided than ever, and I don’t see it getting any better.

I have for the most part kept my peace during the election. I did not want to be one of those bitter people slinging mud around because my guy might not win or I think the other guy is not good for America. However when I see comments that are denigrating to either President Obama or Governor Romney from people it really highlights the level which we as American’s have devolved to. 

No longer can you have a civil political discourse with someone that you have a different opinion with. It has gotten so bad that actual people I know, (or thought I knew), were telling people on their Facebook pages that if you are not voting for my guy, then just unfriend me now. So I found it best to just keep my opinions to a minimum, especially on my own Facebook page. Losing a friend over political differences, well to me that is just a true shame.

What really pushed me over the edge however was a story that was posted on Facebook Wednesday, by Channel 28, ABC Action News. The story was about a Mr. Henry Hamilton of Key West who was so distraught over President Obama’s re-election that he took his own life.

Regardless of your feelings of someone taking their own life for any reason, that is not the point.  It was the comments section after the story was posted that I really found upsetting, here are a few:

Comments like, “Fox news brainwashing until your dead. Smh” or “a lot of people said they would kill them selves or leave the country, at least one kept their word..”  or “No Kelly, It's the liberals that do the brainwashing and the indoctrination, go watch your msnbc”

A man died, folks! Clearly he must have had other issues going on, and again that is not the point of my comments here today. Have we as a country become so heartless that we no longer care about our fellow citizens?

 Is it really the right thing to do, to start sniping at each other for their various political leanings? Someone lost a loved one, there is a family that is truly, tragically hurt because of this.

  I truly thought that American’s were better than that – I suppose that I am just living in a bubble if I believe that.

Now the election is over. A majority of those who bothered to vote got what they wanted, four more years of President Obama.  Good for them, democracy in action. 

The people that did not get Governor Romney in I am sorry that the Governor did not obtain enough votes to allow him to take over as Commander-in-Chief, but he didn’t.  Having sour grapes over it for the next four years is not going to help the situation. Ending friendships because someone has a different political viewpoint than you do is just in a word, stupid. Going as far as to take your own life because of it, well that I am just speechless over.

The election is over. This country needs to find a way to move on.  We need to find a way to heal the rifts and hopefully become more tolerant of one another when our political views don’t line up with each other’s. The elections are run this way with all the negativity because we as a electorate allow it to continue, we listen to it, we respond to it, and we echo it. 

We allow this growing hatred to continue to fester every election and it is only going to get worse.  As long as people put more stock in the political pundits and what those talking heads say, I don’t care if you are on the left or on the right, we will continue to become more divided and more hurtful toward one another.    Eventually, I honestly believe our own political brinksmanship and unmoving opinions will destroy this country, I hope to god I am wrong. 

The bottom line is this: by far and large I honestly believe that the majority of us want what is best for our country. We may have different views on how to obtain that greatness but at the end of the day we all want this to be the best country out there.  I am not even going to get into the debate of people who will not help themselves and depend on government handouts – that is a topic for another post. All I am saying is, the election is over, it is time to move on.