A Nation of Fire and Fury

What the HECK happened to this country? Regardless of the Democratic victory in the House of Representatives in the 2018 election, our country seems more divided than ever.

The news coverage, the lies, the name-calling, the anger; the schoolyard that is America has a bunch of whiny children running this country with a leader that encourages belligerence.

Division and polarization have hijacked our democracy.

This leaves the people with the same question: What the HECK happened to this country?

Regardless of the Democratic victory in the House of Representatives in the 2018 election, our country seems more divided than ever.

With two houses of Congress dominated by different parties, the Congress is set for a firefight.

Because Democrats won control of the House of Representatives, they will lead all House Committees; this can lead to mass investigations relating to President Donald Trump.

These can include his tax returns, obstruction of justice, the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, and his family business deals with foreign governments.

These investigations will not only anger Senate Republicans and the President, but also his supporters throughout the country.

While liberals will rejoice when these investigations are conducted, it will also divide our country even more.

However, as many of you know, the polarization in this country is traced back to the 2016 Presidential Election.

The Republican Party has been on an ongoing offense against the Democrats, even after the Republican-sweeping victory in the 2016 election.

With a blow horn president in the White House, delivering blistering attacks via Twitter on the daily, the people are being pinned against each other.

Without a doubt, the Trump Presidency has spawned one of the most polarized periods in American history.

Ever since President Trump was inaugurated, he has tried to delegitimize the free press constantly.

Calling numerous news outlets as “Fake News” or “the enemy of the people,” he has successfully convinced a large amount of the country that the facts presented by the media are false.

The irony is that the President himself is single-handedly the biggest liar that has ever sat in the Oval Office.

According to the Washington Post, President Trump has lied or misled the American people more than 3,000 times in his first 500 days in office, compared to Obama’s 18 false claims throughout his entire presidency.

This combination of lies and heated rhetoric is what led this country to where it is today.

An outspoken Trump supporter trying to bomb the president’s critics, but far-right conspirators claim that it was all orchestrated by “the left.”

A caravan of migrants that are fleeing persecution is claimed to have diseases (that have been eradicated) and have ISIS militants; while the President claims that this is because of the Democrats.

There are people in this country that see fallacy as facts. As George Orwell wrote in 1984, “Two plus two equals five.”

Our nation has always faced divisive times, but not like this: not a time where facts are denied, not a time where the free press is being undermined, and certainly not a time where the President of the United States cannot firmly condemn Nazis.

Illustration by Jamie Doo.