I'm sure y'all know by now that I try to stay away from too much "political stuff" here. I figure there's enough of that in other places. If you are a regular participant in our weekly visits, you also know that there are times when I have trouble resisting the urge to speak my mind. "I had the right to remain silent, but not the ability," to quote a well-known comedian. Over the past weeks and months, there has been something on my mind and now I want to say something.
A lot has been made of the fact that our country seems to be very "divided." Sometimes, those divisions are in the form of skin color; sometimes, it takes the form of political philosophy; sometimes, I think it just comes down to some people wanting to be argumentative, about anything. I understand people having differing opinions. Among my friends, you can find folks of just about every persuasion imaginable. What concerns me is when people cannot have a difference of opinion without being mean, nasty, rude or otherwise just plain unpleasant.
I have heard some people blame the unpleasantness among people on certain people in political office, namely the president. I disagree. I know that the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. can ruffle feathers at times. I also know that there are times when he could phrase himself a little better in order to not offend some people. With that said, I do not blame him for the "division" we see so much of among people. I think that comes down to each individual person.
Being civil, being polite and simply being a decent person is not a matter of politics; it's a matter of the heart. No politician has control over how you act and how you treat other people. Only you have control over that. How much sense does it make to say, "That mean man in the white house is rude; so that's what makes me rude?"
This election season will, thankfully, be over in less than a month. I wonder how many friendships will last beyond that. I can only speak for myself when I say that I intend for my true friendships to last much longer than that. No matter who the temporary resident of that big white house on Pennsylvania Avenue happens to be.