Political hatred, rhetoric at an all-time high

While there a few people like myself who are really in the middle on issues (they call us Libertarians) the majority of people are either right-wing zealots or extreme leftists. How has such a divide in our county come about? What causes someone to bite the finger off another person at a rally about health care of all things?

Even on my Facebook account, if I dare mention anything political, I am often challenged or downright attacked, and this is from people I know, at least to some degree. My Facebook community consists of friends, current and past, current and past co-workers and people that I at least know presently or have had some sort of association in the past. And I thought sports arguments got heated.

Mention something political and the venom begins to spew. If I don’t agree with someone’s opinion I am called everything from a Communist, a terrorist supporter, an enemy of this country, against the troops, a Communist, an idiot, a moron, a traitor, a Communist, crazy, nuts, a loon, and on and on and on. Did I mention Communist?

I get the biggest laugh out of being called a Communist because I value personal freedom so much I would never be confused with anything associated with Communist. However, people, in their quick attempts to insult, try to fire off the first thing that comes to mind and I guess that is one of the terms still used today.

Through the years, my newspaper columns have been attacked by those on both the left and right. I am attacked by right-wing zealots for simply not supporting everything the Republicans do. Since I questioned why we went to war with a country that had nothing to do with 9-11, I am deemed Unpatriotic by talk show hosts employed by FOX News.

The right also gets on my case for not believing the most recent President Bush was right for signing the Patriot Act, which violates civil liberties of honest Americans. I also never had any use for Dick “Five Deferment” Cheney who freely sent our servicemen and servicewomen in harm’s way while never doing so when it was his time.

I am attacked by the left on issues such as gun rights, fighting taxes and the like. I criticized Democrats heavily for not standing up to bills like the Patriot Act and for being afraid to challenge Bush on his unconstitutional war in Iraq. A Democrat is now in the White House, yet our servicemen and servicewomen are still in harm’s way. You can hear of them dying in the line of duty on a daily basis if you care to listen, but who really pays attention any more outside of veteran groups.

Speaking of which, I criticize both parties for not doing more for our veterans once they return home and for bogging them down in enough red tape to choke a horse when it comes to receiving the benefits they deserve. I wish everyone who is fired up about health care would get as fired up about benefits for veterans once they return home.

As our nation continues to split politically down the middle, it’s nice to actually be in said middle. It’s where our forefathers would have been.

Chris Bridges is an editor with Mainstreet Newspapers. E-mail comments about this column to chris@mainstreetnews.com.