Has the Country Lost its Mind, or Have I Opened Mine?

Sometimes I ask myself; "is the country actually getting more insane, or am I just more aware of it because I'm an adult?"  When I was a kid, I just believed what my parents believed because, well, as Eric Draven said in The Crow, "Mother is the name for God on the lips and hearts of all children."  They were right in my mind because they had to be.  What a crushing disappointment it was to realize that I had an entirely different set of ideals, and that my folks were actually fallible.

Maybe not much has changed, and it's just easier for public figures to be heard because of an increased media presence-- whether they intended their opinions to be heard by the masses or not.  Politicians have been captured on camera phones comparing immigrants to dogs.  At an anti-immigration rally, another speaker compared Hispanics to donkeys.  Don't forget Mitt Romney's doozy about 47% of Americans being “dependent” on government because they see themselves as “victims,” and that it’s not his job “to worry about those people.”

The Southern Avenger. Really.

I understand that this has been going on for years and it's not particularly new. Therefore, I shouldn't have been surprised to discover that Senator and presumed 2016 Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul had hired someone called "The Southern Avenger" not only as his media director, but to write his frigging book.  Yes, you heard that correctly.  The Southern Avenger, aka Jack Hunter, is a known neo-confederist who hails John Wilkes Booth-- you know, that guy that murdered President Lincoln-- as a hero, and celebrates his birthday as if it was his own twisted form of Memorial Day.  

Hunter's infamous blog has been taken down, but cached versions of it can still be found.  My favorite article is "John Wilkes Booth Was Right."  Or perhaps it's, "Don't Vote, It Only Encourages Them."  In light of the firestorm that ensued when people found out who this guy really was, Rand Paul finally caved and "cut ties" with the guy, but not before defending him and making a variety of excuses for several weeks.

Don't get me started on the anti-choice movement sweeping the country.  Some states, like North Dakota, Ohio and (of course) Texas, have introduced historically aggressive anti-choice legislation.  Not satisfied with their victory over women in recent weeks, which will reduce the number of safe, legal abortion providers in the state from a few dozen to five, Texas has introduced even more stringent legislation in an attempt to ban abortion after six weeks. Six weeks?!  Don't they realize that six weeks is usually around the point at which a women starts freaking out because her period is late??

Florida is losing its mind over the Stand Your Ground laws, something which Senator and former Republican Presidential candidate John McCain has admitted should be reviewed in his own state of Arizona.  Which then leads me to gun control. This past weekend in my own city of Albany, New York, a nine year-old boy found a handgun hidden in a flower pot in an empty lot and accidentally shot himself in the hand with it.  Police believe that it was most likely a communal gun.  Ever hear of those?  They're the real deal, and they might be lurking in your city.

I don't want to feel feelings!

This is the point at which I take a deep breath and another sip of wine.  Look, I am not saying I'm losing faith in humanity, or that one particular political group is full of evil people.  There are scary people everywhere, but they should never define the general populous.  I need to remind myself of that sometimes.  Maybe it just frustrates me because it seems that every time we take a step forward, we take another step back.  Sure, we've seen a lot of progress. DOMA was repealed.  More and more states are signing same-sex marriage into law.  Glass ceilings are shattering everywhere.  However, while I used to think that a lot of antiquated beliefs were being phased out, they are proving to be more pervasive than I had previously thought, or these asshats wouldn't keep getting reelected in the first place.

They say that when it rains it pours. Is it just me, or has it been storming a lot lately?  I hope that things will calm down and people will be willing to stop and really listen to each other.  To stop hating on each other so much and be willing to work toward a stronger, more unified America.  Wouldn't that be nice?