Sleep Well

Yummy. Too bad you can't both have it, and eat it.

Sleep Well

One thing is certain: This volatile election is taking its toll on personal online friendships. Time, distance and philosophical differences render the process of maintaining any degree of closeness challenging enough as it is, without tossing in a national election, as divisive a tool as has ever been invented.

The liberals versus the conservatives. Those who view President Obama as a knight in shining armor, and those who view him as black, period. Those who are so disenchanted with corruption in high government places, that they seek a maverick such as the Republican candidate. 

[Editor’s note: I have yet to be able to convince my fingers that this is all real, by actually typing the letters to this man’s name. I’m working on it.]

As ancient as the hills is the old axiom about not discussing politics or religion, if you want to remain friends with folks. Religion rarely enters the arena for me, simply because I have absolutely no interest in either participating in any form of organized worship, or prattling on about it. 

Politics, unfortunately, is not so easy to ignore, because this year’s election has so many features never before witnessed on the national stage. Racism, sexism, morality, values… They are all being bandied about like so many ping-pong balls waiting to be selected in the upcoming bingo game.

The difference is that each of the ping-pong balls in a bingo game

is exactly the same, except for a random number. The issues being bounced around for this election, strike much deeper at the basic components of our society, creating this polarity between “liberals” and “conservatives.”

I see the blatant racism the exudes from every pore of the Republican candidate, and it sickens me to the core of my existence. Over my life I have seen the full circle of desegregation, beginning with the civil rights protests and continuing through to the present, where political correctness reigns supreme.

How our nation, the land of freedom and equality, can embrace a candidate who clearly does not see all citizens as equal, defies explanation, and I simply will not go along with his agenda. If someone supports the Republican candidate for President, then that individual is also accepting this candidate’s beliefs as far as racism go. You cannot have it both ways.

"I am a star so i can get away with it."

By definition, even if you are voting for your guy because the opposing candidate is inordinately corrupt, you are supporting a racist agenda. You may not like that element, but you cannot deny it. Protest until the cows come in, explain your rationale thoroughly, but the fact remains that you are going along with a racist agenda.

I can’t even discuss the sexist component of the Republican candidate, without grimacing, but once again, if you are a supporter of this man, you are also a purveyor to the rape culture of this country. This is the culture which allows a college athlete to commit rape, and then draw a twelve-week “sentence,” because the judge did not want to wreck a perfectly good life, by holding the perpetrator accountable for his actions.

Get used to it.

You can once again explain to me why you are voting for your guy, and rationalize away his agenda as being a “necessary evil,” in order to avoid corruption in high government, and I may nod my head accordingly. But I will not agree with you.

You can’t have your s'mores and eat 'em too. If corruption in high government bothers you more than having a racist/sexist President, then knock yourself out at the polls.

Just accept the fact that you are supporting a racist/sexist agenda, and then sleep well at night. That way you will  never notice that you have one fewer "liberal" friend on social media.

But hey, we are bound to run into one another at Geiger's some day, or even better, the post office, and we can pretend to be friends for a moment or two. We'll smile brightly and exchange hugs.

And then go about our business.

How sad.