I’m so tired of the political conversation. Absolutely exhausted. It’s not that I’m tired of discussing politics as much as I’m exhausted by the way politics is discussed these days.
On Facebook let’s face it – it’s become a useless exercise to post something about the things in the new political landscape I don’t agree with, or point out the ridiculousness of the latest Tweet, appointment or other blurting of our new President or his team. It only brings on either an echo-chamber from my like-minded friends, or a vicious attack from some friend of a friend who needs to call someone a “snowflake” or “libtard” really badly. Or a barrage of off-topic memes from the alt-right, usually about something charming like “Killary”.
It takes so much energy to keep having conversations that go nowhere, have no consequences as far as the way things are run, and leave me feeling bitter and powerless. It’s especially difficult to keep having these conversations with people who I otherwise like and perhaps even respect.
I will admit that it has begun to color my perception of some people, when they are so adamantly one-sided that they can’t even concede that certain things are bad ideas, and some things that are said are plain ludicrous. When Kellyanne Conway uses phrases like “alternate facts”, I am astonished that anyone can defend this person with a straight face. Even if one is completely on-board with everything the new President and his team have planned or have done, a reasonable person should be able to break from the herd and say, “No, this is stupid, and I don’t agree with this.”
However, it seems to have become impossible for people to have reasoned conversation about politics and current events. Everyone seems to be Team Red or Team Blue, and there is a no man’s land in between that we are not allowed to talk about. When I see something bad or unreasonable being done or discussed within the liberal political side, I am not afraid to say that I am disappointed or in complete disagreement with it. It doesn’t mean that I throw down my liberal card and cross over to the other side. It simply means that I can see a field of grey between black and white, or red and blue, as it were.
It saddens me, and exhausts me, that the ability to have sane, reasonable, considerate conversation about political topics has gone by the wayside, and so many people have over-simplified issues into Killary or Demented Cheeto. Politics is so much more nuanced and complicated that these overhyped teams, and conversations devolving into name-calling and screaming is something I’ve grown weary of.