By: Daniel Nardini
A member of my wife’s church insulted me for not “believing in God or Jesus Christ.” Actually, I simply do not believe in her version of what branch of Christianity she believes in, but never mind. Needless to say, I am not dealing with this person for any reason anymore. The last presidential election was especially brutal because it had simply polarized the extremes too many people believe in. So many people where I live who wanted Mitt Romney really hate and despise anyone they see as “liberal,” “progressive” or “Communist.” Never mind the fact that I had been a victim of the Communist system; I am now being called a “dirty commie” by some people in my wife’s church. To me, it is a sign of the times—everyone who voted for current U.S. President Barack Obama is an “evil liberal” and “God’s enemy.” In other words, a lot of people, whose viewpoints are rightwing extremist, cannot handle the truth. To make an admission, I did not vote for Obama either. However, I did not vote for Mitt Romney.
What I find distressing is that this election has proven we not only just have divided government. We have a divided country. We have too many people who believe that America is inhabited by “Communists, liberals and leftists,” and those who voted for Obama believe that the rest of the country is made-up of “rightwingers, religious extremists, neo-nazis and Ku Klux Klan. ” No matter which way you look at it, some parts of America are going left, and others parts are going or remain extreme right. I do not see America coming together to try and deal with a wide range of issues in a sane, common sense manner. One example of this is at a news conference President Obama held at the White House. What was noteworthy were representatives of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) being present when Obama talked about “reducing the national deficit.” I was thinking why should representatives of the SEIU be there? This issue had nothing to do with labor, or employees’ rights. I saw no representatives from organizations for small and medium-sized business organizations at this conference. The reason representatives from the SEIU were there of course was because they supported Obama. My fear is that Obama may indeed be heading more leftward.
Since the conservatives and certainly extreme rightwingers do not want Obama, and so many of the Republican congressional offices are less than enthusiastic about him, Obama may be turning left. He may work only with left-of-center unions, progressive and leftwing groups and organizations for the next four years because there is still too much hostility against him from the political and religious right. In other words, the political right has and is pushing Obama leftward because they will not work with him (hell! they would rather see him drop dead tomorrow). They will make Obama truly look like a leftwing radical. This is truly frightening me. I fear that the United States may become a torn country by the forces of the extreme as was true of Germany in 1930—right versus left, rural versus urban and suburban residents, poor versus rich, one state versus another state. What I found rather unnerving is that some people in a number of states have called for secession from the rest of the country. The states with the most signatures on petitions calling for secession are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. It is doubtful anything will come of these petitions, but it shows a very deep animosity within our society among extreme people against the rest of the country. In my view we have not faced such divisions since the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865). One thing I do not want to see in my life time is a shooting war!
America Pulling Apart
By: Daniel Nardini
A member of my wife’s church insulted me for not “believing in God or Jesus Christ.” Actually, I simply do not believe in her version of what branch of Christianity she believes in, but never mind. Needless to say, I am not dealing with this person for any reason anymore. The last presidential election was especially brutal because it had simply polarized the extremes too many people believe in. So many people where I live who wanted Mitt Romney really hate and despise anyone they see as “liberal,” “progressive” or “Communist.” Never mind the fact that I had been a victim of the Communist system; I am now being called a “dirty commie” by some people in my wife’s church. To me, it is a sign of the times—everyone who voted for current U.S. President Barack Obama is an “evil liberal” and “God’s enemy.” In other words, a lot of people, whose viewpoints are rightwing extremist, cannot handle the truth. To make an admission, I did not vote for Obama either. However, I did not vote for Mitt Romney.
What I find distressing is that this election has proven we not only just have divided government. We have a divided country. We have too many people who believe that America is inhabited by “Communists, liberals and leftists,” and those who voted for Obama believe that the rest of the country is made-up of “rightwingers, religious extremists, neo-nazis and Ku Klux Klan. ” No matter which way you look at it, some parts of America are going left, and others parts are going or remain extreme right. I do not see America coming together to try and deal with a wide range of issues in a sane, common sense manner. One example of this is at a news conference President Obama held at the White House. What was noteworthy were representatives of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) being present when Obama talked about “reducing the national deficit.” I was thinking why should representatives of the SEIU be there? This issue had nothing to do with labor, or employees’ rights. I saw no representatives from organizations for small and medium-sized business organizations at this conference. The reason representatives from the SEIU were there of course was because they supported Obama. My fear is that Obama may indeed be heading more leftward.
Since the conservatives and certainly extreme rightwingers do not want Obama, and so many of the Republican congressional offices are less than enthusiastic about him, Obama may be turning left. He may work only with left-of-center unions, progressive and leftwing groups and organizations for the next four years because there is still too much hostility against him from the political and religious right. In other words, the political right has and is pushing Obama leftward because they will not work with him (hell! they would rather see him drop dead tomorrow). They will make Obama truly look like a leftwing radical. This is truly frightening me. I fear that the United States may become a torn country by the forces of the extreme as was true of Germany in 1930—right versus left, rural versus urban and suburban residents, poor versus rich, one state versus another state. What I found rather unnerving is that some people in a number of states have called for secession from the rest of the country. The states with the most signatures on petitions calling for secession are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. It is doubtful anything will come of these petitions, but it shows a very deep animosity within our society among extreme people against the rest of the country. In my view we have not faced such divisions since the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865). One thing I do not want to see in my life time is a shooting war!