Our country is divided, and that’s not a good thing

It’s not often that we have an opportunity to pause and take the time to reflect on what is happening in our country. We’re all busy and the news cycle is non-stop, making it very difficult to truly assess what is going on around us. However, there is one thing that is glaringly obvious that almost everyone agrees with. Our country is divided.

The Founding Fathers of the United States were brilliant and created a government that has led to the greatest and most prosperous country in the history of mankind. When they created our government, they did one thing that people often forget. The constitution states that all legislative power is vested in Congress.  Although no political parties existed when the constitution was written, the structure of Congress is such that elected officials must negotiate and meet in the middle, in order for anything meaningful to get accomplished.

Fast forward to today and my guess is that our Founding Fathers would be extremely disappointed to see what has transpired. Gone are the days where republicans and democrats can work together on key issues that impact Americans. Instead, the divisiveness between both parties causes every new idea to become a vicious battle. The vast majority of the time, both republicans and democrats side with their respective party and vote accordingly. There is no meeting in the middle. It’s always a fight to the end.

There are key issues that define republicans and democrats and there’s a slim chance either side will bend on those core beliefs. That’s understandable, however there is a long list of issues that I struggle to understand why there can’t be agreement. My belief is that due to the division in our country and hate and anger towards the other party, there is no desire to work together. The country is divided, and that is a horrible thing for all Americans.

Here are three issues I believe republicans and democrats should and possibly could agree on. Let’s start here and see what happens.

Open borders

Regardless of your political beliefs, does anyone really think it’s a good thing for America to allow undocumented, unvetted, illegal immigrants to invade our country? This is one issue that baffles me. I don’t understand how any American could possibly think this is good for our country. What legitimate reason could a level headed democrat give to justify this? If you’re a democrat who acknowledges that open borders are bad for our country, do us all a favor and try talking some common sense into the deranged people who support criminals pouring into our country.

Men in women’s sports

This is another dividing issue that makes zero sense to me. How could anyone think it makes sense to allow a biological male to compete in women’s sports? How is this fair? Do these  people have daughters who play sports? I’m not quite sure how or why this extreme concept started, but I know one thing for certain, aside from lunatic extremists like Maine’s Governor, Janet Mills, the vast majority of people think men playing in women’s sports is completely ludicrous.

Antisemitism on college campuses

Imagine your child going to college for the first time and calling you scared to death because people who despise your religion were intimidating them, blocking them from going to classes and holding protests to denounce your religion and beliefs. Is that an environment you would want your child to be in? It’s not just scary, it’s not American. According to Hillel International, since the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, antisemitic incidents against Jewish students on college campuses have reached alarmingly high rates, increasing by 700% from 2022 to 2023. The fact that this type of behavior is allowed to happen on college campuses in America is appalling. 

As our country moves through this interesting period of history, it’s important that all Americans recognize that extremism on either side is bad for our country. It’s time we apply common sense to the issues each side feels strongly about and acknowledge that a strongly divided country is bad for all of us.

Chris Thompson’s (christhompsnh@gmail.com) column is published weekly on graniteeaglepress.com and howiecarrshow.com.