This is the craziest fucking election I’ve seen. Ever. Granted, my frame of reference is a hair under forty years, but still.
What.on.earth.is.happening.
I figured I’d seen all the ugly campaign stuff. It’s not like politics is a particularly pretty business, and everyone who gets into it understands it is most definitely not for the faint of heart. Over the years there’ve been smear campaigns and questionable activities. Funding that’s a wee bit shady. Even outright lies about opponents have been on display.
Regardless of the ugly, though, at the core of it – way deep down in the political realm – it was still two (or more) feuding perspectives on an America we all believe in. I may have fundamentally disagreed with someone’s philosophy but in the end I managed a grudging respect for strong beliefs.
But the last couple of years have been a slide into a muddied frenzy of what the hell?
Near daily tweets that disparage democrats, women, reporters, brown and black people, the media as an institution – honestly, the list of people Donald Trump has insulted and dismissed is too extensive for a single blog post. Hell, at this point it might take a whole book. But Twitter as a media platform pales in comparison to the wilding at Trump rallies.
And just when I think we’ve hit the political low point in America – that surely it can’t get any worse – we see bombs delivered to liberal citizens two weeks before the primary. Here are the people who’ve been endangered so far (as of this morning):
Philanthropist George Soros, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, the CNN New York bureau, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, (intended recipient) US Attorney General Eric Holder, actor/director Robert Di Niro, and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Do we know who sent them? Why? How? Nope. The investigation is ongoing. But we can see a pattern in the targets.
We’re mired in a political climate where people with opposing viewpoints are seen as the enemy and described as mobs. This level of vitriol has an effect far beyond motivating your base to get out the vote. Does someone have to die before we reel this thing back in?
I’m terrified the answer is yes.
Riddle from the Middle 
I keep thinking I will wake up and it will all be a dream. A nightmare actually. We must remember the victims.
They include: Joyce Fienberg, 75, of Oakland; Richard Gottfried, 65, of Ross Township; Rose Mallinger, 97, of Squirrel Hill; Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, of Edgewood; Cecil Rosenthal, 59, of Squirrel Hill; David Rosenthal, 54, of Squirrel Hill; Bernice Simon, 84, of Wilkinsburg; Sylvan Simon, 86, of Wilkinsburg; Daniel Stein, 71, of Squirrel Hill; Melvin Wax, 88, of Squirrel Hill, and Irving Youngner, 69, of Mount Washington.
The Simons were married, and the Rosenthals were brothers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing these names. It was a week of terror — I keep hoping I’ll wake up, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sadly, people have died (Charlottesville for one), and we didn’t roll things back.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s truly mind boggling.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was horrified when I heard this this morning, NZ time, and even more by Trump’s reaction. I hope that these elections show a turn around.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We’re all hoping for that, too. Or at least many of us are.
LikeLike
I just can’t like this. I heard this on the radio this morning and had the strongest urge to go back to the school, collect my children, and hide in my house all day.
I don’t want anyone dead. Is that a pansy ass liberal thing to say? I don’t want anyone dead. Even people who’ve harmed me and mine personally, I don’t want them dead.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, if it’s a pansy ass liberal thing to say then I’m sure it’s pansy ass liberal of me to agree. Take the most rabid, ultra conservative, you-live-in-our-world-so-what-we-say-goes politician who’s stripping my right to choose and access to healthcare — and I STILL don’t want them to die.
This seems like a no brainer to me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The U.K. is so polarised as well. A couple a years ago we had one of our best and kindest politicians stabbed to death. Nothing changed. You either agree or your seen as the enemy. The language is becoming more extreme. We keep talking about someone emerging who might be able to pull the country together but absolutely no one is on the horizon. It just looks really grim.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m sorry to hear you’re facing the same sort of situation in the U.K. It’s discouraging but I’ll hold out hope that someone shows up for you. ✌🏼💛
LikeLike
I am also terrified the answer is yes. What’s more terrifying is that it may take a whole lot more than one death. What’s terrifying is that the man some people elected president denies his hate-mongering, violence encouraging (“any man that body slams a reporter is my man”), and blames it on the press. I do not claim total innocence for the press – perhaps if they spent less time covering his obnoxious tweets and rallies, it would simmer down. On the other hand, generally they cover what we want to read about. So – society – wake up. We are all responsible. Because we allow this horrible man to continue and our elected officials are equally, if not more, responsible.
LikeLiked by 1 person
All excellent points, Carol. He is who he is and isn’t going to change – so what are the rest of us going to do? I have to admit I put a good amount of responsibility on the republicans. Democrats who complain are “sore losers” and citizens are “babies.” I’m doing my part to get out the vote but we need the folks in power to step up.
LikeLiked by 1 person