Hi, fellow Conservatives. It’s nice to see you all gathered here today.

Republicans, let’s face it: we’re all smart people here. We know what we like and what we don’t. Yay guns, boo socialism. Glad we’ve got our bases covered.

Now, here’s where I want to come in and pose the question:

Why the heck are we all so angry?

I know, I know – the Obama administration has been, for lack of a better term, “less than ideal” (but that’s another post for another time). Regardless, why is it that we as a party seem to be best summed up these days by a mix of overly aggressive Tomi Lahren videos and quasi-hate crimes at Trump rallies?

Yes, the anger does come from both sides. It'd be foolish of us to forget the violent protests and riots that have been coming from the Left, but does that really give us a free pass on our own behavior?

We’ve reached a new low in terms of our politics. We’re more divided than ever, and if you haven’t noticed – neither side is happy. The satisfaction polls for the candidates are dismal, with low rankings for both Clinton and Trump. We’re turning into miserable, spiteful people and it’s doing nothing but tearing us apart.

I don’t need us to all sing Kumbaya around the fire (that’s a long shot, for sure). However, we do need to change our ways.

Let’s realize that regardless of politics, we’re all people. Even that guy or girl who is dead-set on arguing with you. They’re still a person. They have feelings, hurts, and a back story that I’m sure you can’t even begin to understand. Let's stop hating and start trying to understand. Empathy is the key for us to begin building bridges, rather than burning them like crazy.

Next, let’s step away from the anger. This includes passive aggressive face-to-face interactions, snarky bumper stickers and t-shirts (which are honestly tacky anyway and should be stopped for that reason alone), and every single angry Facebook post and comment that’s clogging up our news feeds. What do you think these things promote besides disrespect? Do they give grace to those who hear, or do they simply satisfy your flesh in those moments where you’re lucky enough to find someone to join in on your complaints?

Republicans and Democrats alike, we can do so much better than this. Let’s use our minds to battle rather than our immature words and antics. We don’t even debate actual ideas anymore — instead, we compete to see who can sling insults the fastest. Our politics are quickly turning into an international joke and I’m sure our founding fathers are rolling in their graves right now at the amount of hate being tossed back and forth across party lines.

Since when has party affiliation meant more to us that our respect for humanity?

Let’s get our act together, America. Enough with the anger. If we stay firmly planted on the side of hate, how could we ever expect to make America great again anyway?

(Sorry, just had to throw that one in for the Republicans. But, I mean, "Chillary Clinton," amiright?)