Wins Before Women?

As most of you know, I love sports.  I love watching sports, playing sports, going to sporting events.  I love rooting for my teams, win or lose, though I really love it when they win.  However, I also want my teams to win the RIGHT way; to win without breaking the rules or win without harboring a team full of thugs, criminals and miscreants.  I could be wrong, but I think most sports fans feel the same way: they’d rather have a moderately successful, upstanding program/team than one that wins while breaking rules or doing things the wrong way.  (Unless you’re a Patriots fan.  Apparently, it’s win at all costs, rules be damned with them.)

Sadly, far too often, teams are willing to accommodate all kinds of bad behavior in turn for positive results on the field.  How many times have we seen college teams recruit/coddle/shield kids who are thugs off the field because of their athletic prowess on the field?  How many times have we seen pro sports teams draft players with a checkered past because they can run like the wind, hit a baseball a mile or shoot the lights out with a basketball in their hands?  This sort of thing happens far too frequently.  And far too frequently, the offenses those athletes have committed involve violence against women.  How many times have we heard stories of athletes assaulting or raping or otherwise injuring their wife or girlfriend?  Whether it’s Lawrence Phillips at Nebraska, Dorial Green-Beckham at Mizzou, Ray Rice with the Baltimore Ravens, or the latest allegations that are coming out at Baylor, it’s a story that happens far too often.  In spite of their transgressions, many of these athletes escape harsh punishment because of their athletic prowess; because someone at the top of the food chain sees dollar signs and cares more about the money than about the lives of these women.

The frustrating thing is that, often, these athletes come with a checkered past.  Some of them have already shown a propensity for bad behavior before they ever set foot on campus or before they are ever drafted.  I’m sure that sometimes these coaches believe that those prior instances were anomalies, that people shouldn’t be punished forever for mistakes that they made when they were 18 or 19 years old.  Unfortunately, I believe they more often are willing to overlook those transgressions because they know the athletic talent these young men have and they realize that they can help them win football or basketball games.  With more wins comes more money – for the coach, for the athlete, for the university, for the pro sports team.

While I believe in second chances as much as the next person, the issue is that the schools/teams too often don’t appropriately punish/discipline the offending players even when they continue with their prior behavior of raping/assaulting women.  These players aren’t just given a second chance; they are given a second chance and a third chance and, sometimes, even more chances than that.  Their offenses and conduct are overlooked or downplayed not for altruistic reasons, but for selfish reasons.  Someone – the coach, athletic director, team owner, university president – has done a cost-benefit analysis and has somehow deemed that the benefit of that player’s athletic abilities outweigh the cost of protecting or employing a sex offender.  Someone has decided that the benefits of winning games outweigh the costs of battered women and ruined lives.

What message does that send to the women?  It tells them that their lives and their well-being, don’t matter.  Or, if they do matter, they matter less than their abuser’s ability to be a cash cow for a menagerie of power brokers.

What message does that send to the athletes?  It empowers them to think they are indestructible, that they can do whatever they want off the field or off the court as long as they keep producing on it.  Young men see that and think they can get away with it because so many others before them have done so.  It sets a dangerous precedent.

We need our coaches, our universities, our sports teams and our athletes to say enough is enough.  We need those power brokers to say “not on my watch,” that “the buck stops here.”  We need to them to say that it’s not okay, that it will not be tolerated.  However, we need them to do more than just say it.  It’s not enough to say “It’s on us.”  They need to prove that with their actions.  They need to stop recruiting, drafting, protecting and coddling these thugs and sex offenders.  Instead, they need to consider the character of the people they pick to represent their sports programs.  They need to kick these thugs off the team, kick them out of school, terminate their contracts and turn them over to the authorities.  If the powers that be can’t handle that, then they themselves should be fired.  Because that is the only way this is ever going to stop.  Because the old cliché is correct: talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words.  Because the lives and well-being of people are more important than the score on the scoreboard and the amount of money in the bank account.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

On Religious Liberty

One of the more frequent news topics lately has been the spate of so called “religious liberty” bills that are being proposed (and in some cases) passed in various state legislatures.  The primary supposed justification for these bills is to permit business owners to refuse to serve or accommodate same sex couples on grounds that they have a religious objection to the lifestyles of those said couples.  For instance, if a baker has religious beliefs that same sex marriage is forbidden by the Bible, he or she could refuse to bake a wedding cake for a same sex wedding and he or she couldn’t in turn be sued for discrimination for doing so.  Many of the legislators who are behind these “religious liberty” bills were the same folks who were behind constitutional amendments to ban same sex marriage just a few years ago.  Those laws and amendments have been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.  So, since those legislators “lost” that battle, they are trying to fight it under the auspices of “religious liberty.”

Now, I’m all for freedom of religion, the freedom to worship or not worship how you choose.  It’s a constitutional right guaranteed by the First Amendment and was one of the principles upon which our nation was founded.  However, the Fourteenth Amendment also says “nor shall any State deprive any person of…liberty….nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”  I realize that many conservatives dislike the Fourteenth Amendment, but just because they dislike it doesn’t mean they can ignore it.  It is a valid, ratified amendment to the Constitution just as much as the First Amendment or Second Amendment.  Regardless of your political persuasion – whether you are conservative or liberal or libertarian or somewhere in between – I think we can all agree that part of the point of the constitution is to grant us freedoms and rights and protect us from those who would do away with those rights.  As such, I think it is common sense to say that your First Amendment rights don’t trump someone else’s Fourteenth Amendment rights.

However, the “liberty” piece is only part of the equation.  The other part is the religion aspect.  Most of the time, it is Christians citing verses in the Bible that purport to speak out against homosexuality.  Some of those are in Leviticus and the Old Testament, while others are in Paul’s letters in the New Testament.  However, as Christians, we are called to follow Christ’s example.  So, what did Christ say about gays or gay marriage?  Not much.  True, there are some passages where He speaks of marriage in terms that would indicate only heterosexual marriage (Matthew 19:4-6), but He never expressly speaks out against homosexuality in the way that Paul does.  More importantly, it is important to look at how Jesus treated others during His ministry, even those who were deemed by others to be sinful.  Whether it’s the Samaritan woman at the well or the corrupt tax collectors, Jesus didn’t shun anyone.  He may not approve of their lifestyles, and in many cases instructed them to repent and change their ways, but He treated them with respect.  I believe that we are called to follow that example.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think that God is going to condemn a baker for baking a cake that happens to be for a same-sex wedding or a hotel owner who books a ballroom for a same-sex wedding reception.  Just because you provide a service to someone with whose lifestyle choices you disagree, that doesn’t mean you are condoning their lifestyle choices.  It simply means that you are doing your job and treating people fairly.  All of us have to do things in our jobs that we may not necessarily agree with but we must do as a part of being employed.  (I won’t even get into the topic of whether or not this is a “lifestyle choice” in the first place, as opposed to something determined by genetics.)

I believe that churches should be able to control who can and cannot participate in their various rites and sacraments – that the government shouldn’t intercede on that front.  But if you are a business owner who is in the business of serving the public, you should not be allowed to refuse service to someone because of their sexual orientation any more than you can their race, gender, religion, etc.  If you cannot abide by those standards, then you should pick a different profession.

Too often, the many good deeds and positive accomplishments of Christians are overshadowed by our missteps and I think this another example of this.  We are called to be the light of the world and to minister to others, but our efforts to do so are undermined when we are more focused on condemning the actions and choices of others than we are with spreading the Good News.

Fortunately, Missouri decided not to pass the religious liberty bill that was on the floor this spring.  Here’s hoping that the issue doesn’t get brought up again in future years and that other states follow suit.

Thanks for reading!

First Round Recap

Following an exhilarating 7-game series win over the Blackhawks, Blues fans are finally basking in a playoff series victory over their hated rivals and dreaming of bigger things moving forward.  Before we move on to the second round against Dallas, I wanted to take a chance to look back at the thrilling series that just ended.

• When you think about, the Blues beating the Blackhawks makes perfect sense.  Last fall, the Cubs (who basically haven't won anything in forever) knocked the highly decorated, championship pedigree Cardinals out of the playoffs.  So, it's only fair that the Blues (who have literally never won anything in forever) returned the favor by knocking the highly decorated, championship pedigree Blackhawks out of the playoffs.
• My son is 13 and this was only the Blues second playoff series win in his lifetime, which is hard to believe.
• For a while now, this year's addition of the Blues has tried to distance themselves from the failure-prone, snake-bitten Blues teams of the past.  They told anybody who would listen that this team was different.  And, while they nearly gave us a heart attack in the process, they proved it (so far) in beating the Blackhawks.  Consider:
• The Blues got screwed by some very questionable officiating calls in Game 2 and, while they lost that game, they bounced back and won Game 3 in Chicago.  Previous Blues teams would have allowed those bad things to have carried over from one game to the next.
• The Blues again were on the wrong end of some horrendous officiating in Game 4.  Hawks goaltender Corey Crawford went berserk and attacked 20 year old Robby Fabbri because Fabbri had the audacity to bump into Crawford after being checked into him by Toews,  Through that situation, the Blues somehow - against all logic - wound up shorthanded.  Of course, the Blackhawks scored on that power play.  Past Blues teams would have folded like a cheap suit after that turn of events and would have never recovered.  However, this year's team bounced back from that injustice and roared back to win that game.
• After blowing a two goal lead for the second game in a row in Game 7, the Blues fought back and got the victory - another game that previous Blues teams wouldn't have won.
• How good are Blues' rookies Colton Parayko and Robby Fabbri?  Parayko is a workhorse who can play a lot of minutes and doesn't seem phased at all by the pressure of the playoffs.  During the regular season, he posted the Blues' best +/- rating (+28) since Chris Pronger's epic 1999-2000 season when he won both the Hart and Norris trophies.  With his demeanor, size and booming slapshot, this kid seems destined to win a Norris Trophy of his own if he can continue his outstanding play.  And Robby Fabbri, who is about my size, plays much bigger.  He doesn't back away from contact (even when being accosted by deranged goalies) and delivered some big hits in the series.  He had a really good offensive year during the regular season (37 points) and has continued to display that creativity and skill in the playoffs thus far.  Keep in mind, he's only 20.
• If there's one moment that might (hopefully?) signal a change in the fate of the franchise, it's the shot by Brent Seabrook late Game 7 that hit both goalposts but somehow didn't go across the goal line.  In years past, that shot would have gone against the Blues and it would have broken the hearts of Blues fans.  But, for now at least, the hockey gods smiled on the Blues and kept that puck out of the net.   
• While winning a playoff series is always sweet, it was so much sweeter to do it against the hated Blackhawks.  It was a thrilling, nerve wracking series - but those are always great....if you come out on top.  In my opinion, this was the best Blues playoff series since the 1999 first round series against the Coyotes.
• Nobody knows what the future holds for the Blues - if this is their year or if they will stumble again like so many teams have in the past, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that the Blues are still skating while the Hawks are playing golf.
• For the second round, I think the Blues match up really well against the Stars.  While Dallas has some great offensive players - Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, etc. (though Seguin is still battling injuries), I'm not sure that they are any tougher to slow down than the elite players that the Blackhawks threw at them.  But whereas the Blackhawks have some very good defensemen (like Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook) and a top flight goalie (Corey Crawford), the Stars have a suspect defense and questionable goaltending, regardless of which Finn is between the pipes.  The Blues' physicality and depth will prove to be too much for the Stars, so my prediction is Blues in 6.  LGB!

Best Baseball Memories

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball.  I'll tell you what I do.  I stare out the window and wait for spring."  - Rogers Hornsby

It's baseball season - my favorite season!  In honor of the start of another baseball season, I thought I'd share my top 10 baseball memories/moments/games.  These are the games that have and will always stick with me.  Fortunately, as a Cardinals fan, I've been blessed with a lot of incredible games and memories over the years, so narrowing it down to only 10 was very difficult.  But, after mulling it over for a while, here are my Top 10, with some explanations why.  I'm guessing some of you (those who are Cardinals fans) will agree and possibly disagree with some of these.  Likewise, others of you may be saddened by some of these choices since they came at the expense of your teams.

10.  Game 3, 1982 World Series: This was the game that helped make Willie McGee one of my favorite players of all time.  He hit 2 home runs and then robbed Gorman Thomas of a home run in the 9th inning.

9.  Game 7, 2011 World Series: It wasn't the most suspenseful game after the first few innings, when the Cardinals came back from an early 2-0 deficit.  However, it was the crowning achievement of one of the most remarkable runs in baseball history.  The Cardinals were left for dead, 10.5 games out of a playoff spot in late August, only to catch fire and not just make the playoffs but win the whole thing.  (Besides, #1 on this list loses some of its luster if the Cardinals lose this game.)

8.  Game 5, 1985 NLCS:  Go Crazy, Folks!  Ozzie Smith hits a walk-off homer (his first ever HR left-handed) off Tom Niedenfuer to win it for the Cards and send the series back to LA.  The entire St. Louis area went bonkers, people in rush hour traffic honking car horns and everyone celebrating.

7.  Game 7, 2004 NLCS: Jimmy Edmonds' amazing diving catch in left center, Scott Rolen's 2-run homer off Roger Clemens, and the Cardinals first NL pennant in 17 years cap an incredible 36 hour period (see #3 below).

6.  Game 6, 1985 NLCS: The Cards come back from a 4-1 deficit with 3 runs in the 7th and 3 runs in the 9th on Jack Clark's mammoth home run (once again off Niedenfuer) to win the NL pennant.  I'll always remember Pedro Guerrero throwing down his glove in left field as Clark's homer sailed into the left field bleachers.  My parents, my brother and I were all sitting on the couch together watching the game.  When the ball left Clark's bat, we all jumped up in celebration and accidentally stepped on our poor dog, Max.

5.  Game 5, 2011 NLDS: The Cardinals score a run in the top of the first and that's enough as Chris Carpenter outduels Roy Halladay is a suspense-filled pitcher's duel.  The Phillies were heavily favored coming in the series, but this was the first sign that the 2011 Cardinals were the team of destiny.  (This is the first game on this list to which I'm fairly certain I can attribute some of my gray hair.)

4. Game 5, 2012 NLDS: A crazy, unbelievable comeback win for the Cardinals.  They trailed 6-0 after 3 innings before beginning to chip away with runs in the 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th.  They still trailed 7-5 with 2 outs in the top of the 9th, when the completely improbable duo of Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma (PETE KOZMA!) combine for back-to-back two-run singles.  The 4-run 9th gave the Cards a 9-7 win and a trip to the NLCS.

3. Game 6, 2004 NLCS: The Cardinals trailed in the series 3 games to 2 when the series shifted back to Busch Stadium II.  The game was tied 4-4 in the 12th inning when Jim Edmonds cranked a walk-off 2-run homer to force a Game 7.  I scared the heck out of my son (who was only a year and a half old) when Edmonds hit the homer as I jumped up and down and then ran around the family room yelling in celebration.  (One of his first words, by the way, was "Cardinals".)

2. Game 7, 2006 NLCS:  An absolute, nail-biter that I guarantee gave me gray hair.  After Endy Chavez absolutely robbed Scott Rolen of a home run with an unbelievable catch, Yadier Molina (who hit only .216 during the regular season) hit a 2-run home run off Aaron Heilman in the top of the 9th to give the Cards a 3-1 lead.  In the bottom of the 9th, the Mets loaded the bases with two outs and Cardinal killer (and post-season stud) Carlos Beltran was at the plate.  It looked like perhaps Yadi's heroics weren't going to be enough.  Then, rookie closer Adam Wainwright struck out Beltran on three pitches, freezing him on a called strike three with a knee-buckling curve ball.  I swear that I wore out the carpet in my basement with my pacing during that game, though I remember screaming and jumping around the basement when Waino struck out Beltran.

1. Game 6, 2011 World Series:  I realize this is an obvious choice, but I could live to be 100 and never see another game like this.  The Cardinals trailed 7-4 heading into the bottom of the 8th.  They scored one run in the 8th to make it 7-5.  They still trailed 7-5 and were down to their last strike in the bottom of the 9th before hometown kid David Freese hit an opposite-field, two-run triple off the right field wall to tie it.  In the top of the 10th, the Rangers scored two runs on a home run by Josh Hamilton.  They Cardinals were down to their last strike again in the bottom of the 10th before Lance Berkman singled home Jon Jay to tie it 9-9.  David Freese then won it for the Cardinals with a lead-off, walk-off home run in the 11th.  It was literally a game for the ages, as the Cardinals were the first team to ever come back from deficits in both the 9th and 10th innings of a World Series game and the first team to score in the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th innings.  It was an amazing win and one that eventually led to the Cardinals' 11th world championship.

Honorable Mention:  These are both regular season games, so they don't carry the importance of the aforementioned 10 games.  However, I was physically in the stands at Busch II for both of these games, so I'd be remiss if I didn't mention them.

May 9, 1992 - I skipped my senior prom and instead went to the Cards-Braves game.  The Cardinals trailed 9-0 in the 4th inning but stormed back to win it 12-11.  As we watched the comeback from the left field bleachers, I was so grateful that I'd spent $4 on my ticket (and probably another $10 on food) to go to the game rather than a couple hundred bucks on prom tickets, flowers, a tuxedo, etc.

July 28, 2002 - Cards vs. Cubs.  The Cards trailed 6-0 after 3 innings and it looked bleak.  They still trailed 9-4 going into the bottom of the 9th before scoring 6 runs to win the game, capped off by a walk-off 3-run homer by Edgar Renteria.

I'd love to hear about your greatest baseball memories, too.  Feel free to share them.

Thanks for reading!

Road Trip Truths

The past few weekends, we've taken some family trips out of town, to Wisconsin and Indiana.  Over the years, we've taken numerous family road trips and I've seen a lot of the country.  Through all of these trips, I've learned several universal truths about America in general and family road trips in particular.

1.) Seemingly every small town in America purports to have an "historic downtown".  From Texas to Florida, from Wisconsin to Alabama, virtually every small town has signs directing you to their "historic downtown."  Invariably, most of these so-called "historic downtowns" are a half-empty shell of what they used to be, before the scourge of Wal-Mart stripped those towns of their viable small businesses.  I'm not sure if towns have to get permission to declare their downtowns "historic" or not, but it would be interesting to know.

2.)  Rural America pretty much all looks the same.  If you are driving through a rural area, it can be nearly impossible to tell if you are in Missouri or Florida or Texas.  It all looks the same - trailers and modular homes; lots of cars, at least one of which hasn't run since the Reagan administration; dilapidated barns in various stages of collapse.  And even the dumpiest looking places are bound to have a satellite dish.

3.) Every truck weigh station in America is always closed.  Seriously, how often do you actually ever see any of those things open, with trucks going through them?  We take at least one road trip every year, so we pass dozens of weigh stations each year and I can count on one hand the number of times one has actually been open.  I'm not sure if that's due to state budget cuts or if someone is doing some sort of weird experiment, but it seems like a huge waste of tax dollars to have these buildings and parking lots to maintain when they are never used.

4.) Somebody in the state highway departments in the South thinks their residents are really dumb.  How can you tell?  All of those yellow "Bridge Freezes Before Road" signs.  You don't see those in Missouri or Indiana or Wisconsin.  You only see them in places like Tennessee and Georgia and other parts of the South.  I'm fairly certain that, even if it doesn't freeze that often in the South, folks down there are smart enough to understand basic science and that a bridge with nothing under it is going to freeze prior to a road that has solid ground under it.  I've always found those signs somewhat insulting.

5.)  Every state has those infuriating "trick exits".  You know that ones I'm talking about - the big blue sign alongside the highway leading up to the exit tells you that there is a McDonald's and Burger King and a Shell station.  You're hungry or you need gas, so you get off at the exit, only to find out that the aforementioned establishments are actually 3 or 4 miles away from the highway.  What you thought would be an easy off and on stop becomes an adventure down some windy road in the middle of nowhere.

6.) The kids sleep while I drive, but then when it's my wife's turn to drive and my turn to sleep, the kids are awake and arguing over what movie to watch or what snack to have.  Everybody else is rested and I'm exhausted but there's too much racket to sleep.

7.)  Your kids always have to go to the bathroom at the worst possible time.  Maybe it's when you're stuck in rush hour traffic in Atlanta and your nerves are frazzled.  Maybe it's right after you just passed the last exit for the next 30 miles that has any facilities. Maybe you're almost to your destination and you just want to get there.  Whichever it is, it always seems like it's the worst possible time when you hear that voice behind you say "I have to go to the bathroom!"

I'm sure that you all have others from your trips - I'd love to hear them.  Feel free to add yours in the comments. 

As always, thanks for reading!

Top 10 Beatles Songs

Most critics agree that The Beatles are the greatest rock band of all time.  Even if you disagree with that assessment, they are undoubtedly one of the most important rock bands of all time.  When you consider the amount and quality of the music they produced in just 8 short years (1962-70), it is truly phenomenal.  However, it wasn’t just the hit songs or the fashion changes or the screaming girls.  It was how their music evolved over that time, from simple bubble gum pop/rock songs like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” to deeper, more complex songs like those on “Revolver,” “Sgt. Pepper” or “Abbey Road”.  Working with esteemed, Hall of Fame producer George Martin, they set new standards for what could be accomplished in the studio and what popular music sounded like - and they did it while still churning out timeless music, not to mention countless hits.

My parents were big fans of The Beatles, as am I and as are my kids.  In fact, my son had to pick a public figure on which to do research and put together an acrostics project for his 7^th grade Challenge Language Arts class.  He could have chosen any famous person or event in history, but he chose The Beatles.  The simple fact that a middle schooler who was born 33 years after the band broke up would choose them as his research project topic speaks volumes about their historical importance and the enduring legacy of their music.

In memory of the aforementioned unofficial “Fifth Beatle,” George Martin, who died yesterday, I give you my top 10 favorite Beatles songs:

10.          “Day Tripper”

9.            “Nowhere Man”
8.            “Help!”
7.            “Yesterday”
6.            “In My Life”
5.            “Hey Jude”
4.            “Something”
3.            “Eleanor Rigby”
2.            “Here Comes The Sun”
1.            “Let It Be”

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):  “Paperback Writer,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Norwegian Wood,” “Twist and Shout” (if for no other reason than the parade scene in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) and “Got to Get You Into My Life”.

I’d be interested to hear what your choices would be.  Feel free to leave your selections in the comments or reply to this post on Facebook or Twitter.

As always, thanks for reading!

The Inevitability of Donald Trump

It’s seems like it is almost impossible to go more than five minutes these days without hearing two words that cause some people joy, but cause most others confusion, bewilderment and anger.  They are two words that can instantly spark heated discussions and arguments.  They are two words that once were generally said in a joking manner but are now being uttered with a growing sense of trepidation.  What are those two words?  Presidential election?  No.  Supreme court?  Nope.  Gay marriage? Uh uh.  No, the two words of which I speak conceivably touch all of those topics, as well as many more:

Donald Trump.

For many years, Donald Trump has been a bit of a joke.  His hair, his orange skin, his many wives, his reality show and “You’re Fired” tag line, his incessant need to name things after himself.  He was one of those celebrity personalities who everybody had heard of but few people took seriously.  When he announced his plans to run for president last year, everyone laughed and said “OK, whatever, Donald.”  When he made outrageous comments about Mexicans last summer, people laughed and chalked it up to Donald being Donald.  When he rose to the top of Republican presidential polls last year, people scratched their heads said “Huh…I wonder how long this will last” and then waited for him to do something stupid that would wake everyone up and torpedo his campaign.  Then, he did and said stupid things – from mocking a disabled reporter to discussing the menstrual cycle of a journalist to advocating the banning of Muslims.  But instead of those things torpedoing his campaign, they seemed to just strengthen it.  It seems as though whatever outlandish, childish thing he does or says only serves to garner more support from the electorate.  We are now past Super Tuesday and Trump is still in the driver’s seat for the Republican nomination.  What was considered a joke 10 months ago has become something much different.  Do millions of Americans really support this guy or is this just some long, elaborate con?

When you think about it, though, it makes perfect sense.  In a way, we’re getting exactly what we deserve.  The rise of Donald Trump or someone like him was inevitable.  Think about it: in recent years, we’ve become a sharply divided nation where everything is black and white and there’s no gray.  A nation where all blacks are criminals, all cops are racist, all Christians are hypocrites, all rich people are smug, entitled bastards and all poor people are lazy.  People throw around labels and apply them to others without getting to know them or their story.  Everything is a 10 second sound bite that gets dissected to the nth degree by the never-ending 24-hour news cycle.  People are famous for being famous rather than anything they have accomplished.  America is all about style and not much at all about substance.

It’s not just that Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals don’t see eye to eye on the issues.  They never have.  It’s that they no longer even try.  It’s that they don’t even attempt to find common ground because compromise is a dirty word and attempting to work with the other side to find a middle of the road solution is akin to selling out.  Doing so will cause your own party to turn against you because you are not ideologically pure enough.  It’s also not that they can’t just agree to disagree – they have to hurl insults at the other side and call them names.  The individuals who are supposed to be our utmost statesmen and stateswomen instead behave like grade school children picking on one another at recess.  Civility is out the door because it’s seen as weakness; instead, we have to attack the other side.  Politicians are more concerned pleasing the base and getting re-elected than they are with actually working together to try to solve our nation’s problems.

With such vitriol a daily occurrence in Washington and the various state capitals, is it any wonder that someone like Donald Trump is doing so well in his quest to become president?  He’s a microcosm of what our society has become – spoiled, petulant, opinionated, argumentative and self-centered.  He is a reflection of the ugly things that a lot of Americans think but don’t say with regard to immigrants, minorities and others who aren’t like ourselves.  Some of his supporters say that he is a backlash against the political correctness that has been preached for the past few decades.  I see it differently – he represents the worst of what Americans think and say behind closed doors.  For years, we have rewarded the bad behavior of our leaders by re-electing those who fling the most mud and voting out the moderates who may actually be attempting to do their jobs.  We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on attack ads and other propaganda that vilify the opposition and demonize people who do not march in lockstep with us.  With anger and intolerance running rampant, it was only a matter of time before a candidate took all of that negativity, wrapped it up in one package and threw it out there to the teeming masses who are eager to latch onto it.  In that sense, the question shouldn’t be how are all these people supporting someone like Donald Trump; the question should be what took it so long for something like this to happen?

The title of this post does not at all imply that I think it’s inevitable that Trump will be elected president.  I hope that never happens because the thought of him representing our nation on the world stage is appalling.  In the end, I think saner minds will prevail.  The title is just a reflection that, with the decline in educated discourse in this country, it was inevitable that someone like him would come along and that a large portion of our population would coalesce around him.  My hope is that the fact that this has, in fact, occurred will cause all of us to do some self-reflection and see how our own actions and the actions of our neighbors have gotten us to this point. My hope is that we will all take steps to begin building bridges rather than torching every bridge we come across.

Thanks for reading!