I got my laptop out, set my water bottle on the coffee table, turned on the TV, and was hoping to write a really informative article laying out an informative debate between candidates vying for undecided minds.
I instead got information with no basis of facts, low-bar attacks towards each other, and desperate appeals towards minority groups. The laptop was primed with notes for the first 30 minutes as I was desperate to keep up with the splash of words from Trump and Clinton. But soon I realized that it was just vomit from both, all I could do was watch in awe and horror.
It would be a laborious process for me to go into the ridiculous claims from the candidates on their "solutions" to fix our real problems in this country. However, a lot of this election can be summed up in the argument of CNN analysts after the debate was over. Jeffrey Lord, a devoted Trump supporter and Van Jones, former Obama advisor and Clinton supporter, watched a clip from the debate when Trump talked about the possibility of prosecuting and maybe jailing Clinton when Trump became President. Jeffrey Lord talked about how "it was a humorous remark to say 'because you'd be in jail'" while Van Jones was occupied with the thought of prosecuting a political enemy is an action done in more totalitarian countries. The two bickered endlessly while Jake Tapper attempted to reel them in.
It was the same clip. The only difference is it was watched by two completely different individuals.
After the previous debate, online polling put Trump winning nearly unanimous, while Clinton boasted about specific scientific polls that she had won. Moderate pundits mostly agreed that Hillary had won, but you couldn't please a Trump supporter who believed the "media is rigged against Trump".
The polarization of the media and our country is a frightening venture into the history books. History teaches us that when countries are divided, conflicts ensue. Each side of the nation is unable to hear how to heal a growing divide. Fox News and Breitbart are not reliable sources. MSNBC and the Huffington Post are not reliable sources. And late night TV is not a news source. Yes, the average American doesn't have time to go through all the facts and sources and make a 100 percent educated decision about each and every issue. But the least our country can do is to reject the hate and division that we as a nation have dealt with for centuries.
My peers continue to ask me who I plan to vote for in November, but the choice only becomes murkier. You can say to vote third party, but Gary Johnson has shown a severe lack in foreign policy knowledge and Jill Stein doesn't have job-creation policies nor the remote chance at becoming our 45th President.
I do believe as a Christian it is our duty to not vote for Trump, but yet also frighteningly believe that Hillary Clinton has used the system to gain and keep the power she possesses.
It now dawns on me that we are less than a month away from an election that will shape the future of our country. Troubling me is I do not know who to support. There is no candidate who I feel is qualified to be our next country's leader.
I ask our generation to demand more. Yes, I know Bernie got young people excited. But we can do better. This country has done better.
My belief is that there are people who will make this country better for the next 4 years who will not step up. Why should we have to settle?
This country was built on never settling. For better or for worse, Americans settled great expanses of land, built big buildings and bridges, and developed business with each other. We wouldn't let oppressive regimes have their way with silenced citizens. We fought for the freedom of speaking your mind.
That's the America I know and the America I want to see going forward.
Though I'm young (and possibly stupid), I still have this crazy thought that the next 4 years can be better than the previous ones. There are huge issues I know we can solve if we come together, just as we've done many times before.
