Trump isn't dividing America: We are

Donald Trump is a symptom, he's a symptom of a disease: A perfect example, is how those on the Left say that Donald Trump should "bring us together."

This is actually a nonsensical statement: How can ANY leader bring us together? In hindsight, I'll use the same defense for President Obama: It was never his job to narrate our responses, and to referee the conversations between Left/right, between Americans.

That is OUR job. It's OUR job as citizens to come together. It's our job as citizens to perform our civic duties as teachers, firefighters, etc(whatever occupation you hold) in the best possible manner, to serve the public(both commercially and out of the national/states interests.)

I'm going to be very real right now: We Americans are in a form of self-denial, and we'd rather pass the buck off to President Trump, instead of discussing real issues. It's easier to criticize or blame Donald Trump, then it is to actually solve problems.

It's easier to create new problems, then it is to think about the ones that actually exist. It's easier to do nothing, then to have the courage to do something.

And this form of self-denial is on overdrive in Capital Hill, where the politicians perceive there to be a reward for appeasing and appealing to this behavior of self-denialism.

This behavior, frankly of children. And to be honest, this is what pisses me off. Not race, not religion, or sexuality. We are a country of children. And it's very unsightly.

Do these words of criticism hurt? Good, they're supposed to hurt. Does it hurt me to criticize my own country and countrymen and countrywomen? Yes it does. Especially since I thought we were better than this. We CAN be better than this.

Whose ready to join me in stop acting like 5 year olds, and start acting like Adults? And no, if you perceive Trump to be a child, all the more reason to be better than him.

 

The dividing of America ballooned under Obama.

 

Sorry sir, the American left has been a my way or highway outfit essentially since it began. The only way to have unity with them is to surrender to them.

 

I agree.....Trump isn't dividing what was already divided.

 

I generally agree with the OP. Working together to solve problems no longer happens. Compromise has become a dirty word (Wasn't the Constitution a compromise?) It is more important to win symbolic victories than to make this country better. It is more important to blame than to fix; more important to admonish than to listen. We make the people that make a living selling divisiveness and conflict wealthy. We notice the lies of our "enemies" but not of our friends. We want to vote every career politician except the one that represents our locality. Moderates have left both parties giving more weight to the extremes. Some of us have embraced these faults, most of us are responsible for them. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

 

I'm not perfect, in this whirlpool of emotions I've also been swept up in it and wanting nothing more than to get rid of the "dividers" in this country. But upon realization: The vast majority of "us" are dividers in some way or form. Maybe subtle, maybe more out there and openly being divisive. But if we are the only ones who can "make America great again.". There's no Republican or Democrat who can make America great. Only its citizens, can make the country great for everyone(regardless of race, creed or religion) to live in.

 

This whole Black Lives Matter protest is based upon fabricated BS. 99 something percent of all people shot by the police are men. This is as much a result of sexism by the police against men as the over representation of black victims of police shootings are due to racism. Sexism has nothing to do with the over representation of men among victims of police shootings and racism has nothing to do with the over representation of blacks.

 

I squarely place the blame for this mess on the Obama administration and eager media who has created this false narrative that the police are out to shoot black men because of racism against blacks. It would take Trump AND an eager media to as successfully tear down what they have created, but the media is too invested in the false narrative they have helped create.

 

At least most Americans come together on this one:

"Overall, do you think Trump has done more to unite the country,
or has done more to divide the country?"

More to unite: 28%__________ More to divide: 66%

http://pollingreport.com/trump_ad.htm​

 

Good post.

We don’t have to agree on everything, but we do have to find middle ground. By definition, a compromise means nobody gets exactly what they want. I know tax reform or healthcare isn’t going to be exactly what I, or people generally left of center like myself, want... but I’m willing to meet in the middle and be a grown up. Doesn’t mean I like the President or have to support him but it does mean I’m willing to make a fair deal on healthcare, taxes and the border.

The way to enact this is by sending people to Congress who are willing to work with the other side. Vote for reasonable people with integrity and avoid the ideologues.

Essentially, both the left and right need to police their own side; vote for centrists. We’ve been fractured and divided before in our history and we’ve always rebounded. We can do the same now.

 

I went down thru your little link, you know what's missing in the entire thing, demographics and number of those polled You think you might link how many R/D/I were polled?

Just an example how the polls fooled you leftist last November

From your link

So 1202 adults, right? Honestly, how many were leftist, Republicans or Independents. You would think after the beating you took you would at least have learned about polling LMFAO

 

Excellent post

You nailed the primary reason why in your follow up post "whirlpool of emotions" Everything is heat of the moment emotion. There is no room for reasoned thought anymore. Its all emotional reactions to opinion rarely based on fact. We have social media to thank for this. We now see news (i use the term news very loosely) created based on twitter quotes and their reactions, based on how many hits or likes one has on facebook. We are acting like 5 year olds with no self control. Social media has its positives. Right now in this country they are few and far between.

 

me thinks as far as with racist malcontents they could no longer say the nation that elected a black man was prejudiced against black people and have reasonable people believe them

They lost their excuse to not focus on ghee problems that do exist.

 

I applaud and agree with your sentiment in this post. The problem is us not them.

Look at the partisan responses to your post for evidence, how quick people try to blame BLM, Obama, Trump, etc. All symptoms or non-issues.

The problem has more to do with people not reaching out and building relationships with people who don't agree with them about politics, religion, etc. Watching television channels for news doesn't help either. If you think an advertising format based on achieving maximum profit by holding the most eyeballs to the screen is going to be invested in or take seriously the job of reporting news then you are making a serious mistake.

 

OP

The result of your presidential election is a bit like the result of our Brexit referendum, in that intelligent individuals on the losing side accept it with a quiet dignity, whereas the less than intelligent ones whinge about the result ad nauseam. But then that figures in both scenarios, because as the adage goes, 'Empty vessels make the most noise.'

 

Logical? the OP's point just flew right by your head.

 

I applaud the OP for this post and those are my sentiments exactly. Looking at most posts even on on this very site, I often feel it's pointless to say anything as nobody is really here for a reasoned debate. They want to "win" the argument, which actually resolves nothing and just pulls each side further apart.

I am not American. But since I was 3 years old, it was the country I most admired in the world. I have traveled and worked all over the wolrld and people have often shared this sentiment. When you work together, you can accomplish amazing things. My family fought and bled beside yours in both world wars. Your help guaranteed our freedom against tyranny. Your institutions trained scientists that allowed you to go to the moon, wiped out hunger and disease and you helped usher in the most peaceful and prosperous age the world has ever seen. You made mistakes and compsomised, but people all over the world benefitted from you guarding their freedoms. It was not one sides ideology that achieved this on its own. Both Republican and Democratic presidents have achieved great things; it was a shared sense of purpose and sacrifice that allowed this.


Some people have complained about your influence loudly, but I have always defended the US. Unlike most of history's empires you have worked for your partner's interests as well as your own. And contrary to what some may think, most of us don't want to screw you over. We want to see you succeed as the alternative to US influence would be far, far worse.

And that's why during this current period, we are not laughing at you. We are heartbroken to see you ripping yourselves apart.

I've worked with and been friends with American conservatives and liberals alike. And on both sides I've found decent, reasonable people, who share far more in common than they think.

But extremists seem to be the loudest voices right now and any whiff of compromise becomes equated to treason.

I know many people feel "the center" has failed them. However, even if the right is on top right now, as always, the pendulum will swing back and the left will end up on top as a reaction. This is unavoidable, it's just a question of when. And unless both sides learn to compromise and drown out the noise and screaming that is poisoning your culture, this cycle will continue and create more gridlock. You need to step out of your own media bubble and look for common ground. It will be hard and will require sacrifice, but it is the only thing that will work. You can kid yourself into thinking it will all be fine as long as "your side" wins, but the long-term decline will just continue.

Empires througoout history come and go and internal division has killed many. And the wolves are one the sidelines watching. But so are we, the people that want you to succeed. It's not too late yet.

 

Propagandists train peeps to react emotionally and the US is the most propagandised nation on the planet but most consider themselves too smart to fall for it, according to Pinocchio.

 

Leftwingers often accuse conservatives of being stupid and unable to form opinions or think for themselves

Liberals are told that all the time on NPR or MSNBC and they believe it

So they meaning liberals think Rush Limbaugh or Donald Trump is the leader of conservatives when in many ways they are the followers of the American people

and only do or say what we would say if we had the platform

 

IN order to work together to solve a specific problem there has to be some commonality as to both the nature of the problem and it's solution. That no longer exists. It's hard to find a compromise with the guy who thinks the best way to get the water out of your slowly sinking boat is to drill some holes in the bottom to let the water out...

 

Projection!

 

The Obama administration didn't create any false narrative why police are out to shoot black men.. YOU did that.

 

Ironic!



The OP is correct about emoting rather than thinking and that is exactly what happens when the BLOTUS tweets something divisive.

His extremist alt right supporters are deliriously happy to be fed red meat while the extremist left becomes angry that their fellow Americans are being needlessly denigrated from the Bully's Pulpit.

BOTH SIDES should CONDEMN the BLOTUS when he says something divisive!

Can we agree on that?

Yes or no?

 

Jeff Sessions made a speech a couple days ago urging American college students NOT to be critical thinkers.

 

Trumpers make no bones about the fact that most of their support for Trump is based on opposition trolling of Dems

Tell me that isn't divisive