Hate to the left of me, hate to the right, here I am stuck in the middle…

I am reminded at this point of the Steelers Wheel 70’s song; “Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right” with a poignant refrain of “here I am stuck in the middle with you”.  The middleground of sanity and common sense has dissolved into a sea of manic uncontrollable hatred from a far left and far right idealism that defies all logic; elevating stupidity to another level. Unfortunately this unprecedented hatred is manifesting itself into violence our country has not seen the likes of since the 60’s, Civil Rights, and Vietnam. What has triggered the fuse of such pent up feelings? Why is it coming to the surface in such a volcanic force? Why are we putting up with it?

Social media has unleashed an unabashed yet cowardly generation of hateful personal attacks sans accountability. It is easy to throw a hate bomb at someone without a tangible target.  No one is going to punch you back in the mouth. The back and forth uninformed and uneducated rhetoric is incessant; deepening vulgarity and hate with every post, link, download, and response.  If this is not bad enough, ludicrous stories are passed up the Neanderthal food chain as truth; allowing morons to add to the inane. In the good old days we called this garbage: tabloid journalism. Now we call it “news articles”.  Each contain literal venom aimed at destroying people. For good measure throw in racist, bigot, supremacist, misogynist, and of course the now all time favorite: Trumpist.

That is only to the left of me. To the right the word “libtard” is the current flavor of the month. It denotes mental retardation if you are leaning toward liberal views or you are a Democrat. Like the far left, the far right does not distinguish between levels of idealism. To them being a liberal is a short step from being a card carrying commie. The far right’s hurling hatred bomb of choice is “un-American”. Wrapped in red, white, and blue; “patriotism” is conveniently quoted and manipulated to excuse intolerance and often racist dogma. Both sides are as far from the truth, equal rights, justice, and patriotism as I am from being Miss America.  Labeling a conservative racist is just as bad as calling a liberal communist. But I digress.

Both sides have now reached a dangerous pivot of idealism that is stifling political opinion, discourse, and free speech. The left has declared open warfare on President Trump. Not even Nixon was faced with so much open visceral hatred. One literally has to be either blind or completely stupid not to see the one-sided “journalism” (using that term loosely) by the three major networks and their cable buddies. Unfortunately, some members of the Democratic Party seem to have gone to bed with these ultra left fringe loons. The party of Kennedy and FDR has been hijacked by nut cases. It is now the official One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest of Trump mania hatred.  For the past six months we have witnessed unprecedented battering of Mr. Trump. Most of it personal and downright pond-scum dirty. Blowing into the flame of manic Trump-hating fever are main stream media pseudo journalists like MSNBC Rachel Maddow. This woman should thank Mr. Trump and his family for providing employment. Her show should be renamed The Twilight Zone.  She opines and opinionates Trump minutia and futily attempts to turns it into journalistic commentary.  People like her who pass as political commentators have made it their mission in life to destroy this president, his family, and ultimately the nation. But they are too self-absorbed in their one track partisan mindset to even realize that they have morphed into card carrying hate mongers.  They have become a caricature of what used to be Walter Cronkite journalism. Now they are Sunday morning cartoons. Must hand it to them: they do not hide their partisanship or their dislike of Mr. Trump and conservatives. Impartial reporting or journalism is dead. But news media do not have a monopoly on left bigotry. The entertainment industry is also peddling hate disguised as pseudo activism. They have raised the bar on crazy. When two-bit actors cherish the thought of murdering the president: we have  a problem.  No wonder movie attendance has dropped to an all time low. Who wants to pay to watch these pinheads? But, stupid is as stupid does.

Far left hatred disingenuously disguises itself as social justice. Hence the birth of Antifa. A self-proclaimed anti-fascist group. These thugs hide their faces while terrorizing neighborhoods because we are fascists! Now what other organization hides behind masks and terrorizes neighborhoods? Would that be the KKK? The KKK wrote the Playbook on terror in the 50’s and 60’s. But we leave them to the other side. They are their problem. Without sounding flippant or justifying these two evil organizations; at least Antifa and the KKK demonstrate their hatred openly and not disguise it as a “human rights” issue.  BDS is underhandedly insidious. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: a leftist anti-Israel and anti-Jewish group disguised as a legitimate organization against Israel’s “occupation” of Palestine.  Their narrative is misinformed at best, and openly anti-Semitic at worst. They can be found on all our major campuses. They are so behind-the-curtain vicious, that last week, the deputy mayor of Frankfurt has refused to recognize them as a legitimate “human rights” group and outright banned them from the city. Uwe Becker, drew a provocative analogy between the BDS and the Nazi’s “Don’t Buy From Jews” pre-WW II boycott; and we all know how that eventually worked out.  Finally, someone with enough chutzpah  to recognize them for what they really are; bigoted thugs! These organizations. and throwing into the fray Black Lives Matter; demand the annihilation of an entire demography to suit their nebulous agenda of  justice, equality, and tolerance. If they were not so dangerously hateful,  they would be laughable. Each group takes justice on another level of intolerance. Unless on the same sheet as their music we are doomed as expandable.

To the far right of me, thuggery and hatred is also in abundance. Besides the notorious KKK and Nazi Party, the ultra right has satellite organizations that are individual in principal but united in thought.  Do not be fooled with names like Oath Keepers; they are militia who like their leftist brothers, hijack the constitution toward a selective agenda. In their case; the ultra Aryan solution. Gee, I wonder where they got the idea from? They are fundamental federalists who believe that the United States was founded as a Christian Anglo-Saxon country and its purity should be preserved.  Other names like White Mountain Militia and Praetorian Guard, give a false sense of patriotism while out to destroy anyone who does not fit their “American” dream.  Since 2002, these and other militia groups have been responsible for 48 deaths (Newsweek Magazine, 2/4/16, Right Wing Extremists are a bigger threat to America than ISIS). Unfortunately, the militia is not the only hate entity on the far right. The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Kansas raises the bar on depravity.  Their website is called GodHatesFags, its feeble attempt at aligning their hatred of homosexuals with excerpts from the Bible leaves one with bile in their throat. This vile group launched a campaign against the military and defiled military funerals with signs that God purposely kills soldiers.  Charming. There is a special place in hell for these folk. This group makes the KKK look like Boy Scouts. Besides being anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, anti-Orthodox Christians and anti-Muslim: they add anti-military to their warped ministry. I don’t think they will find Rapture any time soon.

At the peak of their fame, the KKK numbered in millions. In the early 20th century they had the support of the Democratic Party. The organization was eventually driven to the South. According to the Anti-Defamation League, numbers are now down to around 3,000. Still, 3,000 too many. Disturbingly so, the white sheet is no longer the clan’s uniform; a suit, shirt and tie are. The new KKK appeals to the closet racist; until he feels compelled to go out into the streets with a burning torch! Unfortunately for the Republicans, these racist pinheads do feel empathy with the party. They interpret conservative values of less government and more individual accountability with anti-government militia, racism, bigotry, and prejudice.  Or maybe they use it as an excuse. The jury is out on that one. But when David Duke, the unabashed grand knight of all  Klansmen morons endorsed Donald Trump, the endorsement stuck to the president like the proverbial right-wing glue. Charlottesville sealed the perception shut.  Mr. Trump should have immediately told Mr. Duke to take a hike and shove his grand knight sword where the sun doesn’t shine. But if you think that the militia, federalists, and KKK are the only listed right wing group, you will be sadly mistaken. There is travesty in this reporting as well. The best is yet to come.

Right Web, an organization that supposedly tracks militarists in America lists the ZOA (Zionists Organization of America)  as a militant anti-Arab group. (Updated , August 11, 2017) The website claims to be impartial, but references to “hard line approach on Palestine and Iran” are rather disturbing.  These are two known entities that want the annihilation of Israel. So, what’s the beef Right Web? They state that ZOA disturbs mainstream American Jews because it leans toward the political right and is supported by “pro-Israel hawks”. Right Web missed the boat on this analysis of ZOA. ZOA has never gone out and demanded death to anyone. They ask for support of Israel in its fragile location surrounded by those who want its destruction.  Is ZOA a right wing hate group?  Alternet is another pseudo “watch dog” website that monitors separation of church-state organizations. The website lists the top ten “most dangerous religious right organizations”. Would you believe they are all Christian? Not one Muslim organization was mentioned. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Focus on the Family, and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops are on the list. Reasons for being labeled “dangerous? Anti-abortion, pro-family, anti-gay marriage, and Christian/Catholic teachings.  Muslims share most if not all of these beliefs. Why wasn’t Islam mentioned? Alternet disingenuously targets and accuses Christian/Catholic organizations as being partisan. Really?? What about the “reverends” Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton?  How come the Westboro Church? Or have we lost our perspective on what constitutes dangerous? Somehow I do not recall any of these religious groups asking their congregations to go and destroy private property after coffee and donuts on Sunday!

Here I am stuck in the middle with most level-headed Americans who shake their heads in disbelief at the chaos in our government and on our streets. Over-the-top reality-show crazy seems to have taken over the country.  This is serendipity and eventually I will wake up. FaceBook is an unchecked swamp of nutcases. In a world where a 20 something dictator is firing nukes across Japan, we find stories like Michelle Obama being transgender, and Melania Trump wearing high heels as front page news. Both sides are out to destroy each other and we are caught in the crossfire.  Politics has never been “clean”. I admire those who want to serve in public office because they are fodder to the masses. In one of my favorite movies, The American President; the President played by Michael Douglas brings politics and being president to a fundamental perspective.  Answering his staff’s lamentation on his falling approval rating, the President tells them that “…there isn’t a day that somewhere in the world I am not burnt in effigy…” Meaning; it is part of the job. Inter-political and partisan upheaval is standard operations procedure for politicians all over the world. But is hate a bi-product of partisan politics or is it a new tool of destruction? Was this a gradual escalation of disenchantment with the government or is it a ruse to destroy traditional America as we know it? Is the United States heading toward Bolshevik type anarchy where rhetoric of killing the president is now acceptable?  Should we be alarmed?

Being American is a responsibility that carries a lot of weight. The world looks at us with awe because we set the mood and trend economically, morally, creatively, and militarily. What happens on Main Street USA does not stay there. When America is in trouble, the world is in trouble.  Those of us “stuck in the middle” need to break loose and take both sides to task. Demand our politicians persecute thugs who burn our towns pretending to seek social justice. Demand the media report the truth and not embellish partisanship. Demand that the entertainment industry just entertains. We hold the pocket book to their careers. Demand that politicians stop the racial baiting for politics’ sake, and the labeling that instigates hate. Demand that “hate crimes” or hate rhetoric is persecuted laterally and not when conveniently disguised as activism by partisan persuasion. Demand that law enforcement enforces the law and not cower behind the first amendment allowing anarchy and destruction. Finally: demand that freedom of speech is given back to the people as intended by our Founding Fathers. Freedom of opinion, ideas, and thought: nowhere is there written freedom to burn, terrorize, and loot. As the song goes: “Trying to make a sense of it all, But I can see it does not make sense at all…Cause I don’t think I can take any more…”