Politically Un-Political

I promised myself that I would not get political on this blog. I feel that since this is mostly, or at this point, only, read by friends, my political ideology is well known, if not universally agreed with - even though I am correct and if you don't agree with me, you're wrong.

So I am not going to get political. But I did have one of those "Aw Crap" moments a couple of days ago. My very best friend who is completely at odds with me politically, well she thinks so anyway, probably for good reasons, had sent a political cartoon via email to all her 500 million friends, one of which is me. Obviously, it was an anti-the ONLY obvious choice for POTUS cartoon. Of course, being somewhat of an ass on occasion, I zapped back an article written by a respected party member of the Darkside criticizing the exact point the cartoon was trying to make.......and yup, you guessed it.....hit "REPLY ALL".

Ooooooops!

Needless to say, I didn't realize it until I began to get emails from all these unknown persons mostly lambasting me for taking the cartoon too seriously and informing me as to what a terrible person I am. Thank goodness for one email from someone on that list I actually knew, who thanked me for the email and said they found it very informative, (AHA! a potential crossover voter, me thinks whilst rubbing my hands together and MWAHHAAAAAing.) She was laughing because she figured I had not meant to send it to anyone but my girlfriend and thought it all a great gaffe.

So I sheepishly sent another email, purposely replying to all and apologized if I had offended anyone whilst trying to explain that my girlfriend and I have had this ongoing feud for 11 years now and how the email was really just meant for her and of course her husband who I once had a major F-you argument with about.....ummmmmm....politics. 

I guess my point is is that arguing and even slapping your best buds about the head and shoulders because they are wrong and you are right, is OK 'cause you love each other. It's no fun preaching to the choir and it's no fun getting in these conversations with strangers because they really might slug you. So who best to torment than your friends and in my case, my dad, because he's wrong too. Mind you he's 91 years old, God bless him, so he has an excuse.

What scares me is that there are a LOT of people on both sides out there right now, who are going to freak if the candidate of their choice is not elected. The tension is palpable, the rhetoric ugly and friends and families are walking on eggshells with each other if they happen to be on opposite sides of the political fence. This country has become so polarized because so many people seem unable to respect the opinions and beliefs, both morally and politically, of others and who feel the need to insist that it's their way or the highway; that disagreement is a sign of weakness or stupidity; that you're a bad person if you think a certain way. 

Aside from inheriting 2 wars, a ruined economy, a disintegration of  respect for the US globally, the true threat of terrorism and what actually causes it and thus what we can do to prevent it, the next Prez will probably have to deal with a bubbling cauldron of unrest, mistrust and hatred of some Americans for other Americans that could potentially be much more overt than it is now.

The moral of the story is - do NOT press REPLY ALL, hug your friends and family even if they are wrong and watch what you say when in an establishment that is obviously full of people who don't know what they are talking about.