Escaping the Politics of Anger

Townhall.com ^ | November 17, 2018 | Michael Reagan

[Kaslin]

I realize the Democrats took over the House, which is not new news.

But I'm tired of hearing Nancy Pelosi and other liberals in Congress say that now we need to start working together. Now we need bipartisanship.

Really? Where have they been for the last umpteen years?

Since at least 2016, I haven't noticed the Democrats clamoring for compromise and cooperation in Washington or on CNN.

Suddenly Nancy Pelosi wants to practice bipartisanship? Yeah, right.

I agree with President Trump.

Now that Democrats are in charge of the House and looking under every bed for excuses to impeach Donald Trump, they also need to start writing some legislation.

No matter how "bipartisan" their bills are, of course, they probably won't get past the U.S. Senate or the president's desk.

In other words, for the next two years we'll have gridlock. Nothing major will get done on issues like immigration reform or our trade deals with China.

Meanwhile, out here in California we've been burying the victims of last week's mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill and wondering if there's any place left in America where we can take our families that's safe.

When I was growing up in the 1950s all I had to worry about in school was diving under my desk once a month in case the Russians dropped a nuclear bomb on us.

Today, my son Cameron, who's a stay-at-home dad, has to worry about sending his kids to grade schools where they are holding active shooting drills.

Who ever thought 50 years ago that we'd have to be concerned about this danger?

We now have a whole generation of parents, and grandparents too, who are worrying about where they can go without being shot down by some mad man.

A movie theater? A baseball field? A grade school. A synagogue?

Liberals, issuing their usual simplistic knee-jerk reaction, say the problem is guns and the solution to mass shootings is to get rid of all of them.

But the problem is much deeper than guns. I think America has lost its soul.

Spirituality, morality, kindness, the better part of our natures, love for your fellow humans no matter what their politics - it's getting harder and harder to find in our daily lives.

Everyone's angry on TV. Left or right, Fox or CNN, it doesn't matter what side you're on.

Social media and cable networks overflow 24/7 with hate, not calls for political compromise.

They thrive on ratings and clicks and anger - not civility and compromise - to generates their profits.

In my father's time, in the 1970s and 1980s, we debated important political issues, but we did it without trying to destroy our opponents' careers or reputations.

Now everything in politics is personal and nasty.

We don't merely say we disagree with a person's position. Instead we say, "You're a racist. You hate women."

There's hardly anywhere you can go in the mainstream media to hear an uplifting spiritual message or an inspiring leader who rises above petty politics. There's almost nowhere you can relax and make yourself feel good.

I tweeted the other day that people should turn off the news and the cable channels for a night and watch the annual country music awards.

That's what I did. It was just country music and awards. No politics. No anger. No name calling.

It was entertaining and pleasant - an oasis of civility in our angry world. It was something all of us could all use a lot more of.

[Fightin Whitey]

Sorry but you need a reasonable social consensus of values and behavior to have bipartisanship. The division in America is very real and cannot be bridged.

Dead on.

I would say though that our side at least (more often, anyway) retains the virtues of respect and self-respect, honesty and hard work, and love of God, country and family.

[YogicCowboy]

I have not found Michael Reagan’s kinder, gentler pseudo- Republicanism compelling or effective.

I am all right with controlled righteous anger against manifest and dangerous evil.

[Impy]

That's what I did. It was just country music and awards. No politics. No anger. No name calling.

Only because they know most country music fans are Republican who would switch it off if they started any Taylor Swift crap.

But tuning out is a good thing, I agree with that point.

Politics is never gonna be not "angry" ever again. We're in a cold civil war.

[wastoute]

The only time they want to sing Kumbaya is when they are getting their ass kicked.