Dropping in and out of family and friend celebrations of our nation’s birth over the long holiday weekend, and as we enter the 250th year of this “great experiment,” I am troubled by the tension and at times outright hostility that exists among us.
America remains the world's leading economy, one of the three superpowers, and arguably the strongest military power. Without listing the foreign fields of war where we are peripherally involved, we have plenty of enemies, and it seems to me that some of them have figured out how to foment, grow, and fertilize enemies within.
I witnessed, and occasionally intervened in discussions over topics ranging from the Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill” to America stepping away from supporting Israel to a deep dive into the pond of socialism as a “better choice” for modern America.
Everyone, of course, is entitled to their own views and opinions.
But when did that translate into yelling at each other, treating an opposing viewpoint as “enemy propaganda,” or simply no longer speaking? Yes, social media and the declining credibility of many legacy media outlets have contributed to this, as has the erosion of familiar, trusted sources.
America may not have largely supported the Vietnam War. Still, we generally believed the reporting from that war front, brought to us each night by Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Roger Mudd, and others. Even in the early days of CNN during the first Persian Gulf War, their reporting was accepted as fact, not viewed through the lens or prism of political lean or bias.
More than casually observing the political scene in Washington, as well as under Georgia’s Gold Dome, and more recently, many a city hall or county courthouse, disagreements and divisions have become more tribal.
An opposing viewpoint is spoken by “the enemy,” and we now go to “war” over pickleball courts and holiday fireworks.
These are definitely First World problems.
As I think many prior columns have made clear, while I support many of the stated policy directions of the Trump administration, I am deeply troubled by the manner and bullying tactics of our commander in chief. I much prefer the Teddy Roosevelt version of world leadership, which involves speaking softly while still carrying a big stick.
I have high school and college classmates who will no longer speak to me, accusing me of Trump Derangement Syndrome or being a “Lib-tard,” a word I find patently offensive on so many levels it would require a whole separate column to explain. While I was volunteering for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and helping to elect some of the leaders that built Georgia’s GOP, many of these same folks were lifelong Democrats.
Both national parties have shifted to their own extremes, but that doesn’t mean neighbors need to treat each other like hostile border nations due to differences of opinion on who should occupy the White House.
The last time I felt America united was in the aftermath and months following 9/11. Yes, we made some flawed choices and are still paying the price for a few of those today. Still, we collectively dug ourselves out of that recession, rebuilt the World Trade Center complex and the Pentagon, and moved forward, perhaps stronger and smarter than we were before those attacks.
There will be another attack from without someday. I suspect the next major disaster will disrupt our power grid and communications systems, or damage our water supplies and major utilities. Then, we will need to come together again and set aside our petty differences of opinion, taste, and culture.
We will again need to be a melting pot, finding strength in our diversity of cultures and opinions. United we stand, divided we fall. Making daily choices that lead to the latter is not beneficial for any of us in the long term.
So, let’s start today by sending a note or placing a call to that longtime friend or family member, about what you know is a growing divide.
Simply state: “I am sorry if I got carried away in our last discussion regarding <insert issue here>. Our family/friendship/ community/relationship means more to me than that. I respect your opinion, and I hope you can respect mine as well. Let’s both hit the reset button and put this behind us.”
Try it out and let me know how things go. And God bless America, as well as you and yours.