Hopefully this is clear, even though it started as a response to a comment on Facebook – and was typed on my phone. (I’m guilty of the occasional political comment on Facebook, though I’ve kept clear of posting myself, or becoming too provocative…) The original comment insisted that the 45th President – “The Orange Menace”, or “Drumpf” (I think that’s how they spell it), or some other juvenile title – was the first to provoke a nationwide existential crisis. The following was my response, which I thought is relevant to the blog:

Revered as he is, Obama was the most divisive President of the modern age. He was also the most articulate and likeable. And the quintessential lawyer. He preyed on fear and insecurity more convincingly and eloquently than the most successful Democrat politicians.

He was sandwiched right between two Presidents – one who was “out of touch” and had a provocative foreign policy, and one who was not only an arrogant jerk, but his speeches make even his supporters wince.

Despite both administrations being arguably more effective and successful than the Obama administration, Obama’s will go down in history as effecting positive change. His “hope and change” – addressing systemic bigotry that was nearly non-existent in 2008 – condemned half the country and LIT the flames.

You can argue who fanned those flames more during the Trump years – his rhetoric or the blatantly corrupt media, but extremists on both sides of the political spectrum became exponentially more impactful than they were pre-Obama. When the vast majority of the media parrots the same taking points, and when the institutions of higher education teach a political perspective as ground truth, people who consume their products come to the vehement conclusion that having a particular perspective is correct. Those with opposing views just need to be “educated”. When the media actually printed stories about Trump supporters being uneducated (read: dumber) and Hilary Clinton told us that women who supported Trump did so because they had no minds of their own, it was impossible for voters NOT to despise each other.

Democrats and their media have pushed the Overton window FAR left. I was a Democrat and voted Clinton in the 2008 primary and now I’m a moderate Republican, and for the most part, my views haven’t changed.

Back then, this man and I might have had a civil and respectful conversation about politics. This is a smart person, who nonetheless uses terms like “anus tangerius” in his rebuttal. (That was a new one for me.) Arguments on both sides of the spectrum are often emotional and unbelievably juvenile. The loudest voices seem to know the least about their champions’ positions on critical issues facing them. It could be that their arguments are derived from Google, or their allegiances are strictly personal.