I have dear friends from all over the political spectrum. One of the things that saddens me about political rancor is comments along the lines of “They” want things that are very different than “We” do, and that the differences are so vast “We” can’t work with “Them”.
It puzzles me is that such comments –and often downright insults–that are aimed toward the other side are coming from people who have friends and loved ones ON the other side.
And are people on both extremes of the political divide really so different? Don’t we ALL want to be loved, respected, appreciated, and to feel useful? Don’t we all want good health and safety for our loved ones and ourselves? A way to stay out of the rain at night? Something to eat? Don’t we all want to be happy?
To me, it is about perspective, attitude, developing trust, and building bridges. I believe politicians will begin to do those things as soon as the rewards for doing them outweigh the rewards for the behaviors that they are currently doing.
I trust that the public will wake up and begin rewarding much greater cooperation and teamwork among the parties while there is still time. I believe that It is not too late to change the incentives.
Russ
Russ Towne's A Grateful Man 
what’s sad is that in some cases, there is no common ground for discussion, so deep is the polarization. No chance of dialog then.
If I had employees who I was paying to find solutions, and for whatever reason they couldn’t or wouldn’t do so, I would replace them until I found those who could or would do find solutions. The executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government are employees of its ciitizens. I wonder how many pink slips it will take before working solutions are found.
Amen, Russ, Amen.
Thank you, Cathy. I was concerned that this and my prior post aren’t what followers expect from this site and I don’t want tostart any form of partisan bickering here. I’ll delete posts if it looks like I’ve started something that is beginning to veer that way. So I’m glad that you get and support what I was trying to say in a non-partisan way.
Russ
So very sad and true. We actually are all looking for the same things. We just allow ourselves to believe we are on different sides. Divided we will fall. 🙂
“Divided we will fall” indeed–and have been falling for quite some time. But united we can do amazing things. Thank you for your comment!
Russ
Amen! Thank you for posting this!!
Thank you for your reaction to it and for commenting on it.
Russ