RANT: Vitriol

I know John Stewart's been pretty preachy this week, but I've been enjoying his message. I'm so sick of the rhetoric from both sides of the aisle. Here's a newsflash, Obama is neither the savior of the world or the Antichrist. We're neither going to turn socialist or tyrannical. Obama is neither incompetent or the most brilliant mind in a generation.


One thing is for sure, he is your damn president -- all of you. Hate it or love it that's how it'll be for two more years and I'll tell you what Republicans, if your current crop of talent is any indication he'll probably be in there for another 4 as well. So while you're feelings may be hurt and your ego bruised, deal with it. It's not enough to say "Well, they did it to Bush so we should be able to do it to Obama." Be better than that and take the high road. You're grown ass adults for Christ sakes.


And on the other side, just because your boy's now in office doesn't mean you can just ignore everything from the other side of the aisle. Sometimes they have good ideas and you should listen to them. After all, it's not like they're idiots. They all have degrees as well. Their opinions are just different. If you don't give credence to other's opinions then where are we at as a country? There's no need to be school yard bullies.


Let me be clear, there is NOTHING wrong with questioning those in power. In fact it should be encouraged. Hell, it's the bedrock principle by which our country was founded. There's some weird sh*t going on right now that needs to be questioned. However, when that questioning turns to vitriol that's when the dialog become unproductive.


As an example, I think everybody's had an argument with their friends about something divisive. It starts out cordial enough. Both people are speaking their minds and exchanging their ideas. Voices are mutes and attitudes are calm. Heck, you might even learn something you didn't know before. Your opinion might even be swayed a little. It probably won't change completely, but the needle might move a little in the other direction.


Eventually though, once you realize you can't change their opinion it gets more vicious. You start calling the person an idiot, adding more insults and eventually you are shouting at each other. Soon enough, you both throw up your hands and walk away, pissed, feelings hurt and sure that the other person is an idiot. Who knows, your opinion of them might be forever marred.


Now, imagine those arguments happenings 50x a day on tape all over the country on multiple networks, plastered for the entire world to see? How does anything get done that way? And to think, if you had just stayed cordial there might have been a real exchange of ideas. Hell, you might even learn something important.

So to both sides of the aisle, suck it up, quit acting like children, and get some work done.