A HOUSE DIVIDED



For those who are on the right politically, President Obama cannot do anything that isn't met with disdain, or worse.  Last night's State of the Union speech is no exception to their knee-jerk negative reaction and excuse to vent their hatred.

After watching the speech, I thought it was one of the better SOTUs, because it was a truthful swan song for a much maligned man who has led this country at a very difficult time. It must pain him to have been unable to realize the promise he made coming into office to unite us politically. He has made mistakes -- plenty of them -- but has not deserved the hatred and obstruction that he has endured.

I am actually feeling sad -- is my country so divided that we actually exist in alternate realities? If you compare SOTU reviews on Fox vs. NBC you would think they saw a different speech. Over the last two decades, the "HowardSterning" of public discourse has made it increasingly permissible to be rude, disrespectful, hateful, even to the point of promoting revolution. Donald Trump is the result. The disinformation media on the extreme right has been undermining and eroding the security of a united America for a generation; I believe if it continues, it could lead to another civil war sometime in the future. This time, given modern technology, a permanently dis-united nation could result. It is still true that a house divided against itself cannot stand.

There. I've shared my biggest fear, and I hope it is unfounded. I still need to believe that the majority of people in this country fall into the reasonable middle politically (the bell curve), respect the office and listen with open minds even if they disagree. We who exist in that middle of the bell curve must be vigilant that the bell doesn't flatten in the middle and allow the extremes to rise further.