Taking Sides Won't Make America Great Again!

By Phoenix Desertsong, Concerned American Citizen

It's finally time to stop choosing sides in the wake of the US Presidential Election. It's well past time to step back and reflect on just how divided we've become. It's time to set rhetoric, dangerous and otherwise, aside and focus on what we all have in common.

It is the opinion of many in America that this country has elected a man that is extremely unpredictable. His early actions in transition have been hailed by some. To others, they are questionable at best. Much louder voices than mine have called out hypocrisy on both sides. And it's true.

People are understandably upset at what Trump stands for. He is continuing to say and do some things that many Americans are going to hate. Some of these things are going to and already have destroyed some lives. But this is not all Trump's fault. In fact, Trump embodies a greater part of the American population that many would like to believe.

I voted for neither major candidate. I voted for a third party candidate who best reflected my own views. Perhaps in the eyes of many that was a wasted vote. But no, it was still exercising my right to vote for the candidate who I best felt represented me.

I may not personally like most of what Trump is proposing and I may be befuddled by a great many of his choices for his Cabinet. But what worries me most is how loud his supporters are in support of bigotry, homophobia, sexism, racism, and xenophobia. It's extremely important to understand that these people always existed. While they are not the majority of Americans, they are a loud and powerful minority.

In some ways it's sort of a good thing that Trump won. We got to have a coming out party for all that's evil still in America. Is that all Trump's fault? Not really. Many would have rather had Hilary win. But now that a Trump win has legitimized some of the worst elements of American society to rear their ugly heads, it's now clear who the true enemies of freedom and democracy are.

We do indeed have a chance to Make America Great Again. I'm not sure it was ever truly Great to begin with, but over the past 200 plus years, we've made progress. Will all this progress disappear overnight? I don't actually think so. That is, as long as we all come together. conservative and liberal, Democrat and Republican, and realize most of us are not political at all. Most of us just want to live our lives and be ourselves.

We need to see the painful realities of what the Red vs Blue political party system has done to us. I fear that there is a social civil war on the horizon unlike no other in the history of this country. I hope that I'm wrong, but I'm sure we are going to watch things get much worse before they get better.


In the meantime, we have to stop beating on each other over whose fault this election is. We need to remember that this election is over and that we need to make the best of what has happened no matter where we stand on the political spectrum.

I'm on America's side, not with any politician. Some are saying good things. Others are not. But we are just all people, and we just need to let go of political affiliations. We need to look in the mirror and recognize our own shortcomings.

As a nation, we cannot stand divided. There is not yey the liberty and justice in this country that our Pledge of Allegiance mentions. Yet that is what the flag many of us as kids in this country were led to believe. If we are truly going to Make America Great, then we need to realize these ideals as best as we flawed human beings can instead of just using them as patriotic rhetoric.

Let's just move on, and truly Make America Great, shall we?