What I thought would be a raising of my spirits after losing my beloved cat, Mikie, became a satire on how much the divisions in our nation are much like a divorce. I put the movie into the DVD player and was looking forward to a laugh or two, when I realized that the divorced parents in the movie were really the Democratic and Republican parties of our political system. Neither party spoke respectfully to one another, and political punches were the jabs that either party made at each other to save face with the public or their daughter, our young people, or our democracy, who were caught in between.

There were two possible independents in the movie: the soon-to-be son-in-law and the wife’s too-young-for-her boyfriend. Both became the fodder for the bullets being fired by the divorced parents. The daughter, our children, and our democratic freedoms were at stake. Older adults speak about trust and integrity within their own parties but fight for both when trying to defeat their opponents. It’s time to pass the baton to the younger, more energetic generation in the hope that they have learned how important trust and integrity should be in our system of government. I pray that they have not forgotten, as many older adults have, that we still need to believe in the credo, “In God We Trust.”

I am tired and worried about this country’s inability to solve its problems, about two parties who need to take themselves out of the arena to find peace, and about what lies in the balance: the future of our young adults, the future of our democracy, and the future of our children. How are they to cope with a divided country and with the adults who can’t agree on anything but chaos? Will it take another pandemic and millions of deaths to realize that this time is extremely perilous? All we have that really matters in this life is what we give our children, not what Supreme Court decision gives who the right to stomp on someone else, or what self-serving argument can prove our right to disrespect others, much less the rights of our children.

I’m putting the record straight today. Either the Democrats and Republicans can stop the bickering, the disrespect, and the desire to care for themselves and not for the American public, or the Independents, our democracy, our young adults, and our children will pay the price of our ineptitude and in-fighting. Divorces are hard to deal with and leave burn marks on our souls, but only the realization that we must love one another will ever make this country a proud nation again, “the beacon on the hill” for the world. That is what I am willing to stand up for. Do you want a divorce or a united family?

Anna Hartt