Stop it. Stop attacking each other. In recent weeks, I have seen vicious and petty brawls in this forum that turn my stomach. We have personalized our political disagreements. We show contempt for each other. People on the left attack the character of people on the right. People on the right attack the character of people on the left. And Vladimir Putin laughs all the way to the bank.
Vladimir Putin is an “honourable man.” Unable to strengthen his own country, he gains advantage by weakening ours. One of his key strategies is to turn Americans against each other. Russian trolls are equal opportunity in sowing disinformation and discord: anything that can make Americans hate each other is fair game. When we attack each other’s character we play right into Russia’s hand. When we make sweeping generalizations about the left or the right, we play right into Russia’s hand. Let’s not–any of us–be Russian stooges.
I am not arguing a false equivalency. I think our current President has done as much or more damage to our country as any President in history. I believe our intelligence agencies’ unanimous conclusion that Russia wanted Trump to win. For Trump to side with Putin over his own intelligence agencies; for Trump to consistently deny or downplay Russia’s malfeasance is aiding and abetting an adversary of the United States of America. In my view, these things–among many others–disqualify him from office.
But I don’t believe that those who disagree with me are either stupid or horrible people. And I don’t believe attacking their character or intelligence will get us any closer to recovering from the damage that is being inflicted on our country.
I think to save our country Trump must be removed from office. You may think to save our country, Democrats must be prevented from winning. Fine. Let’s resolve these differences in the political sphere without devolving into hating each other for being on the other team. Hate the politicians if you must. But stop hating on each other. Our future depends on it.
Sincerely,
Dan T
(image credit: By Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60759727)