Election season makes me so tired. It forces me to accept the ugliness of people I otherwise have respect for. People have wrapped their entire identities around the politics of the moment, often driven by what they are told to be outraged about.
Last night I shared a video with the wrong person. The video featured a man comparing going to a political rally with the Jonestown massacre in South America. As I think both political parties exhibit cult-like behaviors, I found the reference hilarious. My friend, however, did not. Even after I apologized, my friend blocked me.
That’s their right. I’m a protector of my peace, too. Social media is a pastime for me. I will block and snooze anything I don’t want to hear, creating a perfectly curated echo chamber of my husband, my kids, my family, and the Kinston Police Department because I think they are funny as hell. I can hardly object when someone decides their feed would be better without me in it.
This morning I woke up to more political outrage, calling hardworking members of this community every name except the one their mothers gave them. It’s beyond disgusting. When the winds change and new leadership takes over, I will still remember the ugliness people chose to embrace, especially how they tore down others to make their point.
Both parties think they have the superior moral high ground. One side uses religion as its weapon, the other side uses social outliers as shields. Now hear me when I say this: neither political party gives a tinker’s damn about the individual person you are except during the months of September through November in an election year when they are on the ballot.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Vote, don’t vote. That’s your right and your choice. It’s not my place to judge anyone for not voting. I haven’t voted in every election in my lifetime and almost always skip primaries. Please feel free to hold me in contempt for my less-than-perfect voting record. It won’t keep me up at night.
From the air you breathe to the food you put in your mouth and the freedom you comfort yourself with at night, government has a hand in all of it. The free thinkers out there want you to believe there is some shadow organization controlling the world and the minds of our leaders. Having interviewed many of our leaders, if this is true, they did a really, really bad job at recruitment. One side wants you to submit to their moral superiority and the other side wants you to bow down to the outliers while ignoring the majority. It’s exhausting.
Just know that the world is watching you tear down your neighbors over how they filled in a bubble on a ballot. After this election season is over, you’ll still be a tool spouting propaganda without any evidence or proof to support your stance. If this struck a nerve or hit its target, it was intentional.
Never come for the friends of the people who hold the pen.