Ghostbusters--A Political Rant

I wonder how we have managed a course of action in the last four years, that puts our society in a constant state of stress. It used to be that stress was caused by working too hard, a boss who was a pain in the rear,too many kids, no kids, not enough money, not enough sex, unemployment, smog, mental illness, divorce, death of a loved one; all the normal stuff of life. Usually it was there for awhile, and then something good happened and it went away. At least until the next bummer came along.

Maybe I am just getting old, and wishing for some respite from continuing conflict in the world. Why do people hate each other? There really can't be that much difference between humans and what they want that would justify hate. And yet hate has been passed from generation to generation among some peoples who to this day still fight and kill each other with regularity.

In the USA, we have developed a divided country and have painted the map of states with red or blue, depending on who is voted for, a conservative or a liberal. So now are we to be defined by color all over again? Who is going to be considered "colored" and how are divisions going to be made? Will we have red sections and blue sections in restaurants? Who will disdain who the most?

Have I missed something? Was it always like that, and I just never paid attention? Or did it start when Conservatives became more in control of government after not having consolidated power for so long a period of time? Where cooperation, compromise and moderation was once the norm, the opportunity for abuse became reality.

With control of Congress and the Office of President, there was no effective opposition to stop foolishness, corruption, and in general, bad government. That is not to say that Republicans could not be effective in governing, but with majority control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, there was no one who could cry "STOP"! to cause debate and compromise and produce more measured and effective results in decisions affecting the welfare of all citizens of this great country.

The 9/11 attack gave opportunity for additional power to the Presidency to act in retaliation without an adequate measure of thought regarding the various potential consequences of our actions. And here we are mired in a bog of stress caused by politics and guns and bombs and violence that seems to have no end.

The "Dogs of War" on the right have been convinced, mostly by deception, that force is the only response to solve all the terrorist activity in the world, and it is up to us to "stay the course" and use all our resources and young soldiers in the effort! Those who disagree, see parallels to Vietnam, which was a terrible mistake, also made by politicians who deceived, and resulted in a vast waste of life and resources. It ended with a sigh of grief over those who were lost for nothing of value.

In a fantasy world we could "CALL GHOSTBUSTERS", and they would come and trap evil in a magnetic box!

We need to stop and think about ending violence and wasting lives.