Please Stop The Violence

I've been watching on the news for the last few days the election issue demonstrations taking place, in the name of freedom. Violence is already happening here. A friend with a NO on 8 bumper sticker, had to stop at a light where there was a YES on 8 demonstration going on. The demonstrators came up to his car and yelled at him through the windows and beat on his car. All he could do was drive away. And this has been going on for weeks here. It's being sensationalized on the news. I don't care what your position is on this subject, we have fought for the right to have different opinions and to be protected.

I hope that people stop and think that we all have choice in how we behave. That we should be here for one another, not fighting one another in our own backyards. We're all going through difficult economic times and will be faced with some tough personal decisions. I heard about McCarthyism with it's blackballing people from their work/lives from many of my elderly patients, seen the tatoos on the arms of those who went through the Holocaust, lived through civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, wars from the Cold War to Vietnam to our current wars in Afghanistan & Iraq. I'm hoping that we don't throw away the rights and freedoms we as a country have chosen.

I understand the passion and emotionalism that comes from feeling very strongly about issues. But does it have to divide us? I think there are more pressing local issues to deal with that have to do with our food & water supply, medical care for our children and the elderly, people being out of work and losing hones. It's not all going to be solved by one election or one administration. It's all a process that takes time.

If you've watched any youtube videos after a World Series win, you can see the violence that comes out in a group. Cars get overturned, property gets burned, people steal signs, even trees get torn down. This is in the name of celebration. What do we do when there are crowds and there is divisiveness. You can watch youtube videos of post-election riots in many countries. I'm hoping & praying that we don't have to go there.

I have an incredibly sweet grandson. A friend just had a new grandson born over the weekend. Many of my work friends have young children, and my friends have young grandchildren. I hope they will never have to deal with violent times.

Please stop the violence now.