Time to mend our country’s divisive ways | Nuttman

I was on FaceBook recently and was looking at what my cousins were up to. I have too many to list and too many to remember.

I love each of them dearly, and respect their opinions as well.

Since the presidential election is upon us, I’ve been disheartened to see that a great deal of my kin is going to vote for Mitt Romney.

This doesn’t bother me that much. I would prefer they side with me, but everybody is entitled to their opinion and I can respect that. What bothers me the most is some of my family and friends posting some of the most hateful, ridiculous and libelous crap ever posted against another political party or person.

They post pictures of President Obama and the First Lady with their hands in the wrong place during the national anthem. They post garbage from some Internet blog that the president is about to take their guns away.

My other friends are guilty as well. Posting rants about how bad Mitt Romney will be for the country. Posting half-truths about his taxes – or lack thereof.

We continue to regurgitate this verbal and written vomit, and I don’t know why. Why would you just reprint accusations that you’re not sure are true? Are we that stupid as a nation to believe that just because someone took the time to sit at a computer and post it as fact that we should believe it’s the gospel according to an offensive website?

I love good debates about politics. My dad hated them. He believed there were certain things you didn’t talk about. Sex, religion and politics. Well, I always believed that if you keep kicking stuff under the rug, pretty soon all you are left with is a lumpy rug.

I’m willing to discuss politics and ask questions. I want to know why Republicans want the government to stay out of their lives with the exception of abortions. I want to know why Democrats have such a concern regarding drug testing for welfare recipients. Why Republicans want to build a big wall around this country and take those cushy farm jobs away from others, and why Democrats seem to act like chickens with their heads cut off when making a decision about anything that might make somebody else mad.

I want to talk about these things and ask questions. Find out why we can’t start acting like grownups and compromise. Instead of like 6 year-olds who say, “He hit me first.”

We need to start reaching out to the other side of the aisle and find a way to work together.

The Republicans’ slogan for this years’ convention was “We Built That.” The Democrats’ slogan is “Americans Coming Together”

I’ve got our new slogan if we can’t fix this problem of non-partisanship.

Pretty soon the whole country’s slogan will be “We Destroyed That.”

Todd Nuttman is a regular contributor to the Kent Reporter.