Obama is being called a monkey by McCain-Palin supporters.
Palin is booed by a crowd of angry hockey fans.
McCain has people calculating and commenting on the odds that he’ll die in office.
Biden has been called “crazy” more times than Palin’s been called “sexy.”
Nothing is really all that sacred anymore, it seems, but even worse is that fact that we, as a people, have no respect for anyone, and even less for the people that disagree with us.
Today is Columbus Day (and, shamelessly, I’ll note that it’s my birthday…), and the man once revered as the founder of our great land (at least that’s how it was taught when I was young enough to color in pictures of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria) is now being remembered as fool that mistakenly landed here then raped the natives.
Comedy, satire, spoofing, etc.: all those are perfectly viable means of pointing out flaws within our mainstream figureheads, but there comes a point where people are no longer critical, but down-right mean, intentionally hurtful, bigoted, and cruel.
There used to be a time when diversity was revered and celebrated, but we seem to have regressed to a point where diversity = scary, and people now treat differences as a plague, needing to be shunned and kept away from the masses.
I’m not aligning myself with a political party here (and even if I were to do that, I’m pretty sure no one would care what I thought as, well, why should they?); I’d just love to see people focusing on facts and qualifications, not conjecture, rumors, and jingoist (ed. I’ve 100% been waiting for the perfect time to use that word from my Scrabble arsenal).
What’s also evident is that this mudslinging is filtering down to small children, as evidenced by a recent CNN posting. The kids featured in this video primarly don’t like McCain because of his old age (a concern which is prevalent in the media). What people should focus on in this video is that, in between adorable asides, these kids seem to know a reasonable amount about Obama’s campaign, and little about McCain, other than his backing of the war in Iraq.
By alienating the opposition, no matter who wins the upcoming election, they’ll lose in one fashion or the other. The perpetual cycle of bashing an opponent (whether the claims are substantiated or not) is only forcing the bar lower with each jab. To boot, we’re instilling this behavior in the younger generation rather than banding together to be an example of how democracy can and should work.
And that’s only in the political arena. The scrutiny we subject any one in the public eye, it’s a wonder we’ve left people with aspirations of fame as the consequence of notoriety is often greater than the benefits.
It seems as though there is a rampant unwillingness to live and let live. If I don’t want to be persecuted or judged for my beliefs, I’m sure as hell not going to condemn someone else for theirs. It seems like a pretty good, common sense practice, but it’s obvious that I’m in a minority in believing that.
We’re heading into holiday season, so I highly recommend getting a head start in spreading cheer and embracing tolerance.
So it seems I’ve gotten wise in my old(er) age…
Jackie for AMP3pr.com
Updated by Danielle Oct 30 2017
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