When did our neighbors become our enemies?

Note to my foreign readers: This post is to the citizens of the USA. You are free to read it and comment, perhaps even see your own country in some part of it, but it is to my fellow Americans.

How did we get to the political place where anyone that disagrees with our politics becomes our enemy?
How did we let politicians drive the public to the place of the smack talking sports world?
Government is supposed to be a cooperative effort, not a winner take all contest or game of chance.

When we move government into the arena of competition where the winners look out for the winners and their supporters only and the losers are punished and targeted to keep them losers, then we have lost our way of life and lost our democracy.  Conservatives are not the enemies of liberals and liberals are not the enemies of conservatives -- no matter what the party leaders tell us. We are all a part of the same community -- The United States of America!

Perhaps the biggest problem with the winner take all attitude of government (or anything else, for that matter) is the things that we will do to keep from losing. We begin to look on the enemies of my enemy as my friend and engage in some pretty questionable relationships. Making deals with the devil never really works out well for anyone but the devil.
In 2016, many Republicans and many evangelical Christians (pardon the redundancy) decided to sacrifice moral standing in favor of a candidate they thought could win and would appoint Supreme Court Justices more in line with their political views. In the year since #45 took office, many of them are beginning to understand the true cost of that decision.

#45's cabinet appointments have been in direct opposition to the departments they are supposed to lead -- an education secretary that opposes public education, an interior secretary that wants to sell off protected lands, a labor secretary that opposes worker's rights, etc., etc.
He continues to use his office for personal gain and bills the US for trips to his resorts and the party of fiscal conservatives say nothing because they hope to make political gains from him being in office. Although many leading conservatives have started to rethink their loyalties and distance themselves from #45, they are still not too willing to admit they made a mistake and oppose him.

My greatest complaint with this Administration and our current congressional leaders is they continue to divide America into those they are for and those they are against rather than governing for all of us.

We are The United States of America!
And it's time our elected representatives were reminded of that.
Govern or go!
Work for all of us or lose in the next primary or general election.

I am not the enemy;
Neither is my neighbor,
Nor is the person in the next city,
Nor is the person in the next state.
We are not red states and blue states.
We are The United States.

Let's start acting like it.
And let's start holding our elected officials accountable to act like it.

End rant (for now).

John <><