American Tribalism.

[AFTT47]

I guess there is the situation where you feel one side or the other is a threat to your well-being or your way of life. It may or may not reflect reality. I have experienced it twice.

The first time was in 1976 when Jimmy Carter was elected President. I felt he was a dangerously weak President in the face of the Soviet Union. He was indeed perceived that way on the world stage - most famously when Iran took the American Embassy hostages during his presidency and released them on the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. I never forgot a political cartoon which showed the Ayatolla Khomeni with a Jimmy Carter for President button saying, "Well I don't like him either but frankly, Reagan scares me." Then there was accepting Cuban refugees who Castro had released from prison - the most violent of offenders - perhaps the stupidist act ever of an American President. I think I was right. Jimmy Carter is an exemplary human being but was a horrible President.

The second was in 2000 when the election was stolen by the idiot George W Bush. This is a man who said during an interview, "Seldom is the question asked, is our children learning?" While Carter was intelligent but lacking in common sense, here was a fucking idiot who I wouldn't trust to manage a Circle K - never mind the most powerful country on the planet. And once again, my fears were justified. He pissed away the surplus Bill Clinton built, cut taxes and took the country into a war of aggression based upon a fucking lie.

So choosing a President can be a very big deal. It shouldn't surprise that it's divisive.