A nation divided

My heart aches for our country right now.

I know it seems as I write that nearly every year but it is never more so than after Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

There were pleas to tone down the political rhetoric from Trump, from President Biden and others to tone down the hate.

It fell on mostly deaf ears. Scroll through any social media and you can read posts blaming both sides of the political divide, conspiracy theories from both sides and a lot of mean and hateful comments.

It just never ends.

It’s been reported that Trump has thrown out his speech for Thursday night when he will officially accept the nomination and he wants to focus on unity and unifying our country.

It’s a nice talking point, and I applaud his efforts but I have to say from what I have witnessed, read and heard the past few days, I feel that our country is as divided as it has ever been or can be. I do not see a way forward to unify this country.

We see it here locally and not just in politics. People seemingly being mean just to be mean. It gets tiresome.

And then sometimes, as was the case Saturday, the hatred manifests into action, shots are fired and a firefighter, Corey Comperatore, is killed trying to and successfully protecting his wife and daughter.

In discussions after Monday’s fair board I heard talk of a severe beating in Sheridan over a parking spot at a rodeo and how power company lineman are being attacked in Texas as they try to restore power.

On Sunday, according to a report from KHOU-11, “Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, law enforcement and labor representatives gathered Sunday to make a call to end threats against crews working to restore power across Harris County following Hurricane Beryl.” This less than 24 hours after Saturday’s attempted assassination of Trump.

Sheridan Media, on their website Sheridanmedia.com reported, “The Coach of a Sheridan Youth Hockey team has died after being punched in the head in what prosecutors say was a fight over a parking spot.” The suspect has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

As I said, it never ends.

I have said it numerous times and sadly, I must say it again. We cannot and should not expect the government, local, state or federal, to unite us, to stop the hate, to stop the violence.

We are Americans. You, me, your neighbor, my neighbor, people from different races, religion, geographic locations, different political parties, we are all Americans.

I am OK if you do not agree with everything I say or write, but I hope that you will respect my right to say it as I will respect you and your beliefs, and your parking spot and your job.

We, as Americans, we can stop it but we have to choose to do so.

Do not share that mean meme, just scroll past it. If someone cuts you off and takes a parking spot take a deep breath and realize they must have really needed it more than you.

Look at people and their jobs through their eyes, try to understand what they are doing and why they are doing. Do not judge, condemn or hate them for it.

The only way to put the United back in the United States of America is one American at a time.

--Karla Pomeroy