Day: June 23, 2017

If you haven’t noticed, people have been a special brand of asshole since our election. Trump threw tact out of his campaign window, and it worked beautifully. He was crude, rude, and people loved it. Many folks on the right put common courtesy aside, in order to properly malign their fellow Americans, chant, and defend “grabbing them by the pussy.” This isn’t a knock on all Republicans, only the ones subscribing to whats been referred to as Trumpism. Under this moniker, Democrats/anyone not fully devoted to the new President are the enemy.  Neigh-Sayers aren’t only the enemy of Trumpists, but seen as enemies of America.

The rhetoric supporting this narrative is offensive, to say the least, even to non-Democrats. Up until now, at least in my opinion, there’s always been a certain elegance to politics and punditry. Politicians with years of grooming, schooling, and carefully chosen words, engaging in discourse. Sadly, the days of well-spoken, over-educated politicians are gone, and it’s impacting the way citizens interact.

The bitter taste of the election is still ripe on Democratic tongue’s, as they’re understandably upset with Hilary Clinton’s dramatic defeat.  For some odd reason, though, the winning-right is still angry. This may have to do with the lackluster start to Trump’s Presidency. While the slow-start may seem great for Liberals, Republicans are blaming them for it, despite Democrats not having enough seats across the government to effectively obstruct any major legislation. In fairness, Republicans do have some room to complain, especially about the Liberal media dissecting Trump’s every breath. Even President Obama told the media to “calm down”, during the 2016 campaign.

With Democrats angry about losing, and Republicans upset with the treatment of their new champion, it’s hard to know if there’s any middle-ground to be found. Scroll through any comment section on Twitter, you’ll see immediate evidence of our decent into tastelessness. We’re becoming desensitized to people being horrid to one another, and it’s playing into the recent uptick in violence and hate crimes. According to Reuters, hate crimes are up 20 percent since the election, and rhetoric from the campaign is a suspect.

We’re also seeing political sub-groups like Antifa, battling the Alt-Right, with riot police often present to separate the two. Trying to know which, if either side is more justified, is an increasingly difficult task. ‘Fake News’, fascist, snowflake, and all kinds of inflammatory language is being used without regard for decency, and we’re normalizing it. It seems that being offensive has become the best defense, and respectful debate is dead.

-Jason Daniel @socialclimatewp