Half of us hate the other half. We blame the other half for almost everything that is “wrong” with our country, whatever that means to us. If the other half was struck down by lightning, our lives would be instantly cured of all problems. Considering ISIS is no more than 20,000 people, hating 165 million Americans must require a hell of a lot more energy.
When politicians and their followers say, "the American people", they mean roughly half of a nation. When half of Americans say "make America great again", they mean, give me back my America. When the other half of America says "not my president", they mean, give me back my America... will the real America please stand up?
The unhinged extremes of "conservatives" and "liberals" were never opposite each other: they were always side by side. Think of a protest, where obnoxiously loud, heated exchanges take place. The extremes always find each other, with a mission to destroy the other. They blow up the ground they stand on, creating the Grand Canyon of democracy. The moderate watch from the safe distance of their respective cliff edges, polarized by the unchallenged belief that a force much greater than themselves created the canyon.
As long as both mainstreams continue to enable their unhinged extremes, the insanity will continue. The pendulum will swing every four to eight years. The policies will be done, then undone. Then done and undone all over again.
"Half" is not a victory. We don't do half patriotism, half pride, half intelligence, half compassion, half jobs. No real leader would ever disrespect half a nation. Many of our forty-five leaders consistently showed us that they either never understood half our nation, or worse, chose the half they could profit from the most. The day a politician says, and more importantly means, "half of you have placed your trust in me, and you are getting your wish... but the other half does not like or trust me: they are a huge priority for me" is the day democracy will no longer be abused by the schizophrenia of nations.
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