By Merlin Lessler —
Early voting is underway! Not with ballots, but with yard signs. Back in friendlier days, these signs were better tolerated. People even wore pins – “I like Ike,” for example, for us old coots.
They walked around with little fear of getting a punch in the nose. A family would drive by a sign in the neighborhood and say, “Oh look, Bill is supporting John F. Kennedy. I’m a Nixon fan myself. It’s been a while since we’ve gotten together; we should invite them over for a backyard picnic before the weather turns cold.”
Not anymore. “Oh look, they’re supporting ‘What’s-its-name.’ What idiots!” – or – “Oh look, those morons are for Who-you-ma-call-it!”
We are extremely divisive in our political positions today. Best friends no longer speak to each other. Family members disconnect. Thanksgiving gatherings turn into a food fight.
Signs stir up the same animosity. We should go back to the days when folks didn’t overtly discuss religion or politics. In person, on their shirts and hats, or the front lawn. Sure, it’s a right, guaranteed by the 1st amendment, but now it’s approaching the “yelling fire in a crowded theater” level.
We can’t look to our leaders for this guidance. We’ve got to get the ball rolling ourselves. Calm down on Facebook, all social media. Many of us like a little of the policies from each side; we’re middle roaders. But right now, it’s like we’re traveling down the road in different directions; any move to the middle causes a head on crash.
Is it so hard to accept that others can have a different position? On issues and candidates? And not think of them as idiots? Maybe? It’s up to us to do it. We need a small child to lead us. The ones who learn in kindergarten how to get along. Afterall, who is more important in your life, some politician in the White house or your family, friends, and neighbors?
Comments? Keep them civil; I know I stirred the pot with this one. That’s what old coots do. Send them to mlessler7@gmail.com. Or, to the publisher of the paper you read this in.
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