I broke a rule I had made for myself yesterday.  Actually, I had done it before, but for some reason this time it struck some nerves with folks.  I shared on Facebook a post I had received from a friend.  It related to Donald Trump insulting John Lewis, a US senator and prominent civil rights demonstrator back when it was a dangerous thing to be a civil rights demonstrator.  He suffered a fractured skull and time in jail for his courage.  Since then, he has served this nation as a voice of reason in the legislature.

Anyway, one of my friends, a Trump supporter, and far too young to even know who John Lewis is commented on the post, as well she has a right too.  Another friend of mine, actually a friend since 1976, went off on her, calling her stupid and saying how sick he was of the stupid Trump supporters.  I was so embarrassed I still don't know what to say to him.  I apologized to my Trump supporter friend and got some very encouraging comments from other people on the post.

My thing is, how do we come together as a nation if we cannot even dialog without calling each other names and insulting one another.  That makes us no better than Trump, who does not seem to care who he insults and calls names.  He just flings the words because he thinks he is untouchable and no one will stop him, as if they could.

My Trump supporter friend suggested we give him a chance. We have no choice, we have to give him a chance, but I must say I am terrified of giving him a chance.  To me that means a chance to make our nation a laughing stock all over the world.  That means that we will be going back to a time when women and minorities were seen and not heard and all of the years of struggle to get where we are will be gone, with a long way to go.  Where hatred and bigotry are the rule.  Not a world that sounds like we are making America great again to me, but then I forgot that making America great means lining the pockets of already rich corporate executives and politicians who follow the Trump line of thinking.

As we go into the next four years we all need to talk to one another.  I mean really talk. We do not all need to sit around a campfire and sing Kumbiya (I never can spell that word), but tell each other who we are, what we believe in, and why.  I have found that if I know who another person is it is much easier for me to understand why they believe what they do.  We do not need to insult each other and become crass and crude like the guy that will be in the white house.  We all need to take the high road with each other.  That is what will truly make America great.  Understanding and compassion for another viewpoint, whether we agree or not.