Republican or Democrat? Who Cares. It's Time To Work Together.

Last night, Sarah Palin appeared as herself on Saturday Night Live. I think she did a good job and was a good sport considering most everyone on the cast disagrees with her politics. While watching the show, the phrase, "Can't we all just get along" kept popping up in my head. I started thinking about that statement. The statement used to refer to the divide between whites and blacks in the country. Now, to me, that statement refers more to the divide between Democrats and Republicans.

Think about it. We all have a ton of different views and opinions in the United States, but only politics seems to bring out the worst in us all. Now, rather than just disagreeing with someones political views, we "hate" them for them. It's become a them vs. us. It's we're right and they're wrong. It's all their fault and not ours for the country's problems.

I find it very interesting that American Jews, Protestants, Mormons, Catholics and many other religions essentially get along fine and enjoy each others company in social situations, but Democrats and Republicans now find it hard to even be in the same room with each other, much less enjoy each others company socially.

That's why I found last night's SNL show with Governor Palin so refreshing. She seemed relaxed, though a little reserved, and seemed to enjoy herself. And, I thought, isn't that the way we all should be. Just because you have a difference in opinion with someone, that doesn't mean you should hate that person. It reminds me of a couple of friends of mine from college. One was a Democrat and one was a Republican. They were both extremely passionate about their political party, and they had some spirited debates and discussions, but they were also best friends and roommates. The difference in opinion made them very interesting to be around.

That is what I believe we need in this country. Democrats and Republicans need to embrace our differences and work together FOR OUR COUNTRY rather than working solely FOR OUR OWN PARTY'S INTERESTS.

It's that simple people. Both parties have some good ideas and both parties have some bad ideas. And, if our government would get back to working together rather than separately, then it just might trickle down to the "average Joe" who would then start working together as well.

As I've said a thousand times on this blog, things really aren't all that bad. Right now, the majority of the mainstream media is determined to oust the Republicans from office. One way they're doing this is by constantly focusing on negative news and how bad things are right now. Unfortunately for us, Wall Street and the world watches our news religiously. I'm convinced that a large majority of our country's "so-called" problems are directly related to the constant negative news reports.

So, I'm proposing that we, the American people, start the ball rolling. Let's stop hating people because they have a different political view than us. Let's start working together on issues and focus on solutions rather than problems. Let's start focusing on the positive things happening around us. I guarantee you, if you take a look around at any given time during your day, you'll see a lot of positive things going on. It's all in your outlook. If you're looking for negative things, all you'll see is negative things. If you look for positive things, then you'll see positive things.

I'm sorry for the soapbox post today, but somethings gotta change. The country as a whole is no different than an individual. If all we focus on is negative thoughts, then all we're going to get is negative results. I think it's time we all started focusing on the positive aspects of our wonderful country. Then, I think we'd all see that things really aren't all that bad.

Make it a great day!

J. Anthony.