Rightness

The Cubs just won the World Series.

There is something just inherently right about that.

Here in America, in a matter of days, our citizenry will be asked to elect a new president,

We will be asked to base our decision on information, and there is NO shortage of that; we have access to more information now than ever before in the history of the planet. However, I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated with that. My problem has become that I don’t know where to draw the line anymore between fact and fiction. I grew up with Walter Cronkite, back when news was news. It was truth. He even told us, “and that’s the way it is,“ and we could believe it. There was a rightness to it, whether we agreed with it or not

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece, a satire piece, about “encouraging” people to vote for a candidate hardly anyone ever heard of. I didn’t label it satire, but I’d be willing to bet that some readers took it at face value, despite my somewhat vague disclaimers.

What do we believe? Well, by and large, we believe what we WANT to believe. Back in the democratic primary, I was feeling the Bern and I felt like the system was rigged against him. Was it? I don’t know. I have watched political shows on cable every day for the last year and a half. What should I believe? What gets reported and what doesn’t?

I have very strong views about who should be voted in next Tuesday. I have already voted and my singular voice will be heard there. And over the last year I have liked and shared posts on social media. But what if my sphere of influence was larger? What if I had the power to dictate to millions of people what information got disseminated? Wouldn’t I exercise that and try to influence others to accept what I thought was “right?”

Is the news the news anymore? Where does the “news” end and conspiracy theory begin?

What is true?

I don’t know. I don’t know if Trump paid any taxes or if the Clinton Foundation is pay for play. I don’t know if Hillary jeopardized our national security be using a private server. Nor do I know if Donald actually raped a 13 year old girl.

Election campaigns in the past have gotten ugly, but never like this. Decency, respect, fairness and the truth have been stampeded by misogyny, racism, outright lies and arguably treasonous behavior.

We have become a divided nation, fueled by the rhetoric of this election.

We will wake up on Wednesday and have a new president-elect. A lot of people will either be angry or incredulous. And we will be challenged to go forth and live our lives. What will that look like for you going forward?

A couple of days ago, President Obama asked us men to “look inside yourself.” He was asking us to do a gut check to make sure we were considering that we were treating the candidate “equally:” that is not in a sexist perspective. Sexism aside, I want to suggest that ALL of us, men and women look inside ourselves on Wednesday morning to see how we feel about the outcome. And then, ask, what will I do going forward, in a positive manner, to make a difference?

What will I do in my life that is inherently right?