Late at night

So unfortunately, it is very late so I will keep this brief. Colin Powell's recent endorsement of Barack Obama really meant a lot to me, not because of his political endorsement itself, but because of how he said it. He mentioned the anger and hate preached by the McCain campaign, the anger fostered by both sides in this presidential debate, and the further extremism we have seen on the right in the United States. 

I honestly do believe that this country is more polarized now than it has been since the Civil War. The Vietnam Era here in the U.S. was obviously filled with strife and anger, but it was vented, the outrage was expressed through protests, shootings, and other such things. Instead now we see a similar situation to the lead up to the Civil War where a series of compromises are cobbled together to suppress the anger without really addressing the fundamental differences in society. Because these divisions keep deepening, we are in danger of creating a situation where a single spark could ignite a civil war, an ethnic cleansing, and extreme violence. I don't know who is to blame for getting us here, divisive political campaigns have certainly played a role, it benefits the winner, but it truly polarizes the nation and prevents true understanding.

There is no single divisive issue as there was in the Civil War, but there are echoes of the same sort of extremism on both sides. People are defending a way of life, whether it be small town values, which are apparently better than the values I hold as an individual, or liberalism, so-called "secular humanism." I personally feel that inflammatory evangelical christian preachers have a lot to do with our current crisis, but I doubt that is fair or completely accurate. I think we have all contributed. People have fundamentally failed to see themselves in others, instead they have defined others against themselves in an effort to establish themselves as better, more right. 

I don't necessarily know what to do about this either, politicians really hold few answers. Even Barack Obama, who I truly believe will be an amazing president in this time of crisis, cannot possibly fix things. He can perhaps put salve on the wounds that have been opened up, but there can be no healing until each side acknowledges its wrong doings and decides to contribute to a better tomorrow. 

That said, I am looking forward to this election being finished, either way, I am sick of the political showboating.