The Trump era has changed so many personal relationships.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

17. The Iraq war was where the fuse was lit

Last edited Sun Oct 28, 2018, 01:38 PM - Edit history (1)

The Iraq war was where the fuse was lit. And even that is not the whole story. The super-patriotism that welled-up after Gulf War I was, in my opinion, a combination of Vietnam War supporters feeling vindicated and a certain segment of Baby Boomer Vietnam War opponents feeling guilty. If you want to look at the root of a lot of our problems now, they started when we sent troops to defend absolute monarchs against a military dictator.

Then Bush lost to Clinton, which enraged certain circles within the GOP/movement conservatism, and led to Newt Gingrich (remember his list of words and terms it was OK to use in attacks?) and the Contract With America. I had fundie neighbors who supported Bo Gritz in '96, and kept asked if I'd watch a video about how our President was selling drugs and having people murdered.

Fast forward to W Bush, and 9-11, and then we "all came together." But then W invaded Iraq, and it did not turn out like Gulf War I. We were not greeted as liberators, there were no WMDs, and the nation began to fracture along Vietnam lines. With a volunteer service, people in regions with higher percentages of service families began to resent regions where support for the war was low. 2004, with the "yard sign wars" that swept neighborhoods during Bush v. Kerry is where I saw the division really become visible.

But 2008, with Social Media (especially Facebook) in full effect what when it really went downhill. It went beyond bumper stickers and yard signs - you now knew exactly what your friends and neighbors thought. And what people found out was that people that they enjoyed watching games or bowling or talking about old times with had views and hatreds you never suspected. It's also a timeframe when the distances of keyboards, as opposed to being face to face, allowed people the freedom to get far nastier and more personal in arguments. At the same time, Social Media, as well as sites like DU and Free Republic (being completely honest here) allowed people to get with the like-minded and share thoughts in echo chambers.

So we are now largely divided into two tribes: one that values public institutions for social good vs. one that despises them; one that embraces conservative social mores vs. one that eschews them; one that values militarism above all vs. one that values nonaggression; one that welcomes immigrants from all nations and skill sets vs. one that only wants highly skilled immigrants from mostly European nations; one that wants a media that is critical of America vs. one that wants media to only be a cheerleader for America. Both sides like different types of leaders. One side appreciates the Oratory of people like JFK and Barack Obama, while the other side finds Trump's rants and W Bush's butchery of the English language endearing because "he sounds like us, doesn't he."