It’s a damn shame the way political differences have driven a wedge between us. This country once valued our ability to publicly express views as something worth fighting and even dying for.
It seems like even in my lifetime the mantra “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” (which was written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, but often misattributed to Voltaire) was something that Americans on both sides of the aisle held, and both Democrats and Republicans were able to put policy differences aside and cheer for the success of our country. Nowadays, political factions can’t even agree on what the facts are, let alone have a civil disagreement.
The truth is, this wedge between the right and left has been growing since our country’s founding. It seems impossible that we could ever achieve unity over partisan division again. Yet, most of us can remember a time we did put aside our political differences as a country. It seems so long ago now, but we actually had an opportunity to bring this country together and keep it that way, but instead, the opportunity was squandered.