Is there any hope for the future of the country when we have lost the ability to empathize with our neighbors?

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America was already bitterly divided when Trump became the 45th occupant of the Oval Office. Then he threw kerosene on the fire.

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For 19 years I was lucky enough to celebrate Father’s Day from both sides of the holiday. Like a lot of things in life, I do not think that I appreciated how special that was until it was gone. I was a bridge between two generations, both shaping the man that I am today. Through that bridge flowed the lessons of the past and the promise of tomorrow.

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Loraine Lundquist’s first-place showing in an LA City Council race was a bright spot in a week that highlighted the new normal that we live in.

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“Frank, please, stop talking.”

- Santa Clarita Mayor Pro Tem to

Santa Clarita Councilman Frank Ferry

While serving on the Santa Clarita City Council, Republican Frank Ferry was known for occasionally losing “his temper, once labeling residents opposed to growth ‘developmental terrorists.’” At another meeting, he called a constituent a “liar” after she accused him of submitting an address that was not within the boundaries of the city. During an outburst that resulted in forcing the meeting into recess, he stated that he had “not submitted an application to the state bar of California.” He reiterated that he “had not applied to the state bar, [he had] not given them an application.” Just weeks earlier he had told the local paper that he had “submitted paperwork to activate [his] license”.

Wherever he was living at the time of the confrontation, Ferry is now running for office from an address in a different jurisdiction. He is seeking to replace Mitch Englander, who left his office for a private-sector job in the middle of his term. Ferry’s campaign is chaired by a former congressman who was considered to be “corporate-friendly” and whose “significant legislative accomplishments involve the transfer of huge amounts of taxpayer money to quasi-private entities that are then liberated from government oversight.” Like the head of his party, his style of campaigning involves using narratives that are detached from reality, playing to the worst aspects of human nature and relying on personal attacks.

As if the War on Christmas was not bad enough, now liberals have initiated a battle against Easter. After “the horrible terrorist attacks on churches and hotels that have killed at least 138 million people,” former President Obama could not even bother to acknowledge the clear persecution of Christians within the United States.  Instead, he diminished “the attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka” as a simple “attack on humanity.” How dare  he not give “any hint of their faith or the significance of the day.” The victims could have been Hindus celebrating Easter!

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

- John 13:34

If there is one man who pushed me on the path towards atheism, it was Randall Terry. As a forerunner to the violent right that we see today, Terry founded the group Operation Rescue to physically deprive women of their rights at health care clinics. As a volunteer escort, I was regularly punched, pushed and shoved by the members of these mobs as they tried to enforce their own form of sharia law. Terry himself was charged with assaulting me outside a health care clinic in Downtown Los Angeles.

“We’re going to impeach the motherf*cker.”

- Rep. Rashida Tlaib

Donald Trump stood next to Vladimir Putin and stated that the Russian leader “was extremely strong and powerful in his denial” that his country had interfered in our 2016 election. The former KGB agent said that “it's not Russia” and this was enough for the American President. Trump told the world: "I don't see any reason why it would be."

The Attorney General’s summary of the Mueller Report confirms that Trump’s assessment was incorrect. The Russian Government did, in fact, conduct a “computer hacking operations designed to gather and disseminate information to influence the [2016] election.” If the indictments and convictions that had already resulted from the Special Counsel's investigation were not enough proof, this conclusion also disproves Trump’s assertion that this was a witch hunt. Crimes were, in fact, committed against our country. 

“Health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege. Every man, woman, and child in our country should be able to access the health care they need regardless of their income. The only long-term solution to America’s health care crisis is a single-payer national health care program.”

- Bernie Sanders

I listened to the small talk as people slowly filled in around the conference table and wondered to myself how many other people actually realized what was going on. If the seemingly random makeup of the people in this surprise meeting was not enough of a clue, the stack of large envelopes, the presence of the newly appointed head of the company from our new parent company and the stranger that accompanied him should have been. My streak of 31 years of employment, 14 years with this company, was about to come to an end.

“My view is that every vote matters. And the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting and that means get rid of the Electoral College.”

- Elizabeth Warren

The will of the people is clear: Democrats have won the popular vote in six of the past seven presidential elections. Yet, in the country that holds itself up as a shining example of democracy, the voter’s wishes were ignored. In two of those elections, including the last one, Republicans won the Electoral College with a minority of the vote and were given control of the Oval Office.

“I would rather have the popular vote because it’s, to me, it’s much easier to win the popular vote.”

- Donald Trump