US New Year Resolution: Ditch Frightful Partisan Fears!

At a top social media website, I came across a post which referenced an excerpt video from a PBS special that highlighted the city of Billings, Montana, rebuking hate and intolerance after white supremacists engaged in threatening and menacing ways towards non-white residents.  The gist of the post criticized PEOTUS Trump for not "condemning this and other blatantly horrible behavior." Seriously folks, this is a bit extreme and more akin to the Alt-Right holding Obama responsible for the costly Gulf wars he inherited upon inauguration.

Fueling some of this political angst is the existing landscape of escalating negativity and division in the US since the November-2016 presidential election and the abandonment of journalistic integrity, i.e. fake news. However, this particular story was not fake. In fact, it actually did occur, but more than 7 years ago. Despite this time lapse ,which could have been confirmed in less than 3 seconds via a Google search query, a sampling of comments indicate a reflexive tendency to denounce Trump. (LMAO & SMDH: WTF?)

Before continuing, I should disclose that I find Hilary Clinton almost equally unappealing or equally appalling. Yet, she did manage to convert my political agnosticism into a vote as I joined the "anyone but Trump camp". These days, I find myself stuck in the middle between "mentally lazy-liberals" and "rabid right-wingnuts", of which neither are accustomed to thinking independently or rising above the fray of partisanship.

This time I have "beef" with liberals, who have felt nothing but blue this holiday season, and must chastise them for holding Trump accountable for an incident predating his PEOTUS status by almost two election cycles.

So, what's my point?

• To the Blue: I say that not every red state or Trump supporter is filled with hate and intolerance. Scapegoating him for all the things that are unjust or discriminatory in America is wrong. The devil's rejects have been committing such offenses before and will continue to do so after his presidency. If you want to legitimately challenge Trump's leadership platform, ample opportunity certainly will present itself over the next 4-8 years. Donald Trump is many things, but Dr. Who (notorious time traveller) is not one of them.

• To the Red: African-Americans and other minorities are not conspiring to repress or subjugate you while they eat fried chicken, tacos or gefilte fish on the White House lawn and engage in whatever other stereotypical behavior you attribute to them. By the way, President Obama did not take away your guns and nor is he responsible for the freedoms you lost under the Bush administration's enactment of the Patriot Act. Okay?

• To Everyone: When you come into knowledge of acts of hatred, intolerance or terrorism that may have been committed by members within your communities or those belonging to mutual affiliations, then step up and speak out. Otherwise, your silence implies cowardly consent. The good folks in Billings understood this as civic leaders on down to common citizens exemplified how this sort of thing may be handled.

In summary, we shouldn't be so quick to project our irrational fears on outsiders without identifying the issues and confirming facts. Of course, some of you still playing sandboxes may have deaf ears to this message, while others inclined to a more open mind might give this consideration. Finding common ground as members of one nation instead of focusing on our differences would be a most appropriate New Year Resolution for all of US. (If you agree, please share this post with others.)