I hate politics!

Yes, that's right I said it... I HATE POLITICS!

The word "politics" has many meanings and nuances. I think everyone can agree that they hate "office" politics. Someone getting promoted because they have an "in" with the higher ups. People being treated differently because they have dirt on someone else.

But what I'm talking about is the real thing! The Democrat vs. Republican, Liberal vs. Conservative, Libertarian, Moderate, Tea Party, Coffee Party... Lemonaid Party crap!

I hate the way the party out of power nitpicks and finds fault with everything the party in power does, and then turns around and does the exact same things when they come into power.

I hate the way cries go out that the sky is falling and armagedon is coming whenever one side doesn't get its way. Amazingly the sky never seems to fall and armagedon never seems to come.

I hate the way compromise doesn't mean a give and take so that an agreement can be made that both sides can live with, but instead it means ending up with something that both sides can equally HATE.

I hate that unbiased whole-truth information seems to be so illusive! I hate having to fact check EVERYTHING because so much out there is only a half truth meant to lead the recipiant in one direction or the other.

I hate that it seems to be impossible for our leaders to sit down at a table, lay out the things that are most important to each of them, find the common ground and start working from there!

I hate the fact that if one does admit common ground with the other side, that they are barbequed by their own party!

I hate that friends seem to polarize into different camps and tend to assume that everyone thinks like they do.

I hate that in the world of "us" vs. "them", "they" do not deserve respect.

I hate that being rude and unkind is sometimes not seen as something to be punished but something to be praised as "standing up for what one believes in".

I hate that we can't just accept people for who they are and what they believe... that we must force them to agree with us or alienate them by disrespecting their right to have another opinion... if not outright shunning them all together.

I hate being thrown into catagories like "all you (liberals/conservatives/moderates/libertarians)" "your kind" and "you're all alike", when in fact no two of us think exactly alike or hold exactly the same beliefs.

I hate that too often it is impossible to (as my wise, wise friend says) agree to disagree AGREABLY! And then all go out for coffee!

I think many of the world's problems could begin to be worked out over small things that everyone could agree on, like... good strong coffee, a wonderful glass of red wine, and excelent cigars. :-)

From personal experience it's not fun being "one of them" when respect is optional. So... be kind to "them", for you never know who "they" are.