PLEASE--- Pass the Tylenol!!

Like many in the country, over the past couple weeks I have been suffering a campaign and election hangover. I often find myself reflecting on the past two years and wonder where we went wrong as we move towards the installation of a new administration. 

This election, regardless of who won, was the ugliest display of democracy I have witnessed in my adult life. It was the first time I actually considered not casting a vote and having to choose from the lesser of two evils was extremely disheartening.  These two individuals were seeking the highest office in the land.  Think about that.  We are a country of over 300 million people and this was our choice??  What a shame. In my very humble opinion, I believe the person who would make the best President wants nothing to do with the office.  To me this is why we are where we are.  What sane person wants to subject themselves to what we just witnessed over the past two years?  So, we are left with a pool of wealthy, egotistical elites who feed on power and will do and say anything to get elected.

 I don’t consider myself overly political but like to stay informed.  In an effort to do so, I would often turn on the TV after dinner to watch the national news and witness the latest diatribe from one of the candidates.  Rarely would there be any discussion of issues.  It is as if the only way to make yourself seem more appealing is to tear your opponent down and based on the character flaws with both it was easy to do so.  My children are now at an impactful age and it was difficult to witness them process what they were watching.  Through various media outlets and social media postings they were bombarded by the negativity of the campaign. They heard accusations of lying, vulgar language and a complete disregard of decency.  I kept trying to remind them that this was not typical, that we have the best system in the world but am afraid they now see this as normal.  Why shouldn’t they?  They have grown up in a world where “trash talking” is the norm—where after you make a tackle or score the winning goal you taunt your opponent or dance in their face.  What ever happened to the days of Giant tight-end Mark Bavaro.  Score the touchdown, flip the ball to the ref and head back to the sideline because you knew it wouldn’t be your last.  Am I wrong or does everyone just seem angry?

So where do we go from here?

I know I speak for the vast majority of the country when I say that we don’t want to go through that again. We need to take a step back and decide what we have learned over the past two years and how we want to move forward.  We need to tell our children that this is not the norm and it is ok to disagree as long as you show mutual respect for each other’s opinions.  We need to become the country we all experienced directly after 9/11. We need to understand that tearing someone down does not raise you up and we need to make the Presidency an office to which “good people” aspire instead of a platform for egotistical elites.

Come on America, we can do better than this!!