What Happened?

       Ya know how you can tell that America is a democracy? Easy, America is a democracy because we allow peaceful dissent. Not only do we allow peaceful dissent, but we appreciate it. We invite it. We consider it and if we agree, we act on it. But if we don't agree with it, we still accept it. That's what you do in a democracy. Sometimes you wish that peaceful dissent would go away, but we never attack it, and never viciously.
       Take, for instance, the idea that a president would think to belittle someone publically just because he, or she, might disagree. No Congressman would dare consider turning his, or her back on an investigation simply because the one being investigated was of the same political party as the Congressman. And nobody would threaten any other person just because of that person's views on any subject. The rule of law would be respected in a democracy.
       These are some of the reasons you can tell that America is a democracy. No wait, that's not what's happening in America. Peaceful dissent often devolves into violent confrontation. We refuse to consider the suggestions of the other side. The left is so far from the right and the right so far from the left that agreement can never take place on too many subjects. Belittling and lying about an opponent is the norm.
       This is not the way we used to be. We're damaging our democracy. We're allowing our leaders to become lying, cheating criminals and we show our admiration for them. We need to stop it. We need to change the way we treat each other. We need to get back to being a democracy again.