drums beating, bugles blow
I can't hear you.
Many of us that claim to be broadminded, while progressive in our political beliefs, seem blind and deaf to much that our brothers and sisters on the Right are trying to explain.
We need their critique of policy. We benefit from their challenges to our political thinking. The Left can “go off the road” every bit as often and as every bit as fatally as the Right.
I envision two or three chairs, comfortable, side tables holding beverages, reachable, and friends of different experiences and hence beliefs (we all tend to get them from experience). We sit facing each other. We share facts and evaluate together the evidence we have for their accuracy.
We laugh and admit ragged edges to our ideas. We apply “emergency care” on the spot. More important we actively seek common interests and discuss common action.
And yet we don’t. I am talking Utopia. Why? There is noise in the room, shouting. Thanksgiving Day Macy’s floats bumping into each other. The battle drums are beating.
That’s the Trump affect. I can’t hear you. You can’t hear me.
I respect your thought process, but disagree that it is Trump. He cast a spotlight on the already gaping wound in unity. Obama stood at a precipice and threw unity into the abyss. I am not sure where it began, but instead of unity after the election cycle it became us vs them. Sadly, only politicians benefit whole "we the people" suffer