FLUFFER71

I am a firm believer that people need to talk less and listen more, and I make it a point not to venture into politics on social media. People are so entrenched in their camps and my opinion isn’t going to change anyone’s mind. More importantly, regardless of your political views, everyone is angry enough. Last thing I want to do is contribute to the outrage when what the world needs most is more kindness.

With the above in mind, today is my exception. After the last election, I turned off my TV and willfully ignored the chaos that unfolded around me over the four years to follow. Today, I can say I am a better man for it. I reconciled all the hours I lost glued to the screen, heart racing with the BREAKING NEWS, gripped by the emotions of an election that ultimately came down to a sticker gifted to me at the ballot box. I not only felt stupid, I felt manipulated.

Over the past four years – TV off, sun on my face, removed from the battlefield – I’ve gained some much needed perspective, however concerning. While I could turn off the TV, I couldn’t mute the emotions and outrage of friends, liberal and conservative alike, nor the media in my newsfeed provoking the fight. And in time it became increasingly evident to me – America is living in two very different realities, which are drifting further apart. And as troubling as that realization was, what I found most sobering, why I feel compelled to speak up before this specific election, is that both sides are being conditioned to hate the other, and there are no adults in the room to say knock it off, hug it out.

It’s impossible to hear anyone when the TV is blaring. Every breaking news story should come with a disclaimer: WE PROFIT OFF SCARING YOU, because it’s something many of us lose sight of when barricaded in our echo chambers. It’s not a matter of opinion, its a simple truth. Media profits most when we the people fear tomorrow and each other, and in 2020 business is booming. Because the more hideous and sinister the boogeyman, the more we reach for opinions that echo and ultimately amplify our biases, outrage. and contempt; the more selective we get with our facts, the more divisive and entrenched we become, the more we turn up the volume and tune back into the madness to further electrify our suspicions and righteousness indignation.

NOTE TO MEDIA: I am an adult. I am capable of critical thinking. While I entertain other opinions, I don’t need editorials or personalities to tell me how to think. Wipe that smirk off your face and spare me your snarky commentary. I find your emotions embarrassing. Just give me the facts, all of them.

Despite the tone of this post, I typically see the world through rose-tinted glasses and believe in America’s better angels. However, given my concerns with the escalating hate and demonization of Americans in both camps, where our current leader is concerned, it’s glasses off. I have nothing kind to say about him, because I am also a man that values integrity, accountability, pragmatism and inclusiveness.

The only thing I hate in this world is hate, and even when I strip away politics, policy and opinion and I look our president in the eye, I do not like – nor do I trust – who I see; his lifetime of actions give me no reason to feel otherwise. Over the past four years, specifically, I’ve had to bear witness to a narcissistic child with a Twitter account throwing tantrums at the cost of national unity. And as heartbreaking as it is to hear otherwise rational adults justify the absurdity of this angry, flatulent child spewing hate, it’s the intentions of this volatile creature that keep me up at night; it’s the realization that my life and our planet rests within the mood swings of a mad man…

And to be clear here – as a man liberated of media, unswayed by piecemealed facts, capable of critical thinking – there’s no debate to be had here. The president is mentally unstable at best, and you know it. Shame on anyone that puts ideology over national interest. Your blind eye is deafening and saddens me, or as cable news might sensationalize my heartfelt concern, your willful ignorance is nothing short of treason.

Once upon a time in the not so distant past – before the merger of Democracy and The Apprentice – character, integrity and dignity actually meant something in this country. Despite their beliefs, convictions and sins, elected officials had the courage and wherewithal to compromise. They understood doing otherwise was nonnegotiable; the alternative would be nothing less than mutually assured destruction, the collapse of democracy and dismantling of America.

Ignore my opinion, please. But do me a favor before casting your vote this election. Ask yourself, am I angrier than I was 4 years ago? If so, the answer is easy. Vote for change. Get this vile reality show off the air, once and for all.