I must say, I’m somewhat embarrassed and ashamed of the current divide — not only in America, but especially here in Summit. People seem to have lost their minds. The venomous, hateful speech coming from people on both sides of the aisle is quite repellent and disturbing. America, and thus Summit County, is in a cultural tug of war that is slowly becoming a mix of the Cold War and the Civil War. Instead of Soviets, we are suspicious and mistrusting of one another!

Democrats and Republicans are constantly trying to point out the “horrors” committed by the other side while ignoring or minimizing (sometimes even encouraging) their own side’s negativity. Democrats act shocked by vile statements about Biden while laughing about the same kind of horrible stuff they said about Trump. (For the record, I despise all politics.) Republicans were fuming about anti-Trump negativity while now parading around their own hatred for Biden. It’s like two little kids on the playground always trying to tattle on each other but acting innocent when the finger points at them. It’s astounding how people intentionally vilify, dehumanize and reframe others’ actions in the most negative ways possible, often to simply please their echo-chamber peers.

We have all got to stop this out-of-control train before it derails and destroys us! Both sides have great ideas, and both sides have terrible ideas. If you can’t see that to some degree, you may have your head deeply lodged where the sun don’t shine. I wonder if this is what the beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire was like, triggering centuries of suffering we call the Dark Ages, marked by economic, intellectual and cultural decline. History will repeat itself if we don’t act.

Be kind everyone. We are all human.