Conservative, liberal? Why not just American?

Political labels have divided the country, but it’s time to work toward bringing Americans back together.

In a matter of days, the most divisive president since Barack Obama will take office.

Ha. See what I did there? Because Obama is still our president. And he’s divisive. And now Donald Trump is going to be president. And he’s divisive.

And I’m sick of it. I’m sick of divisiveness. But I don’t blame Obama. I don’t blame Trump. I blame us.

In fact, it’s entirely on us. We’re the ones choosing this path, choosing to cling to labels, choosing to cling to the old “conservative or liberal?” mindset, choosing to yell at each other on Facebook.

You know, I wrote last week that I think heroin dealers should spend life in jail. I posted this on Facebook, and a comment I got really struck me: “Are you liberal or conservative .... You’re more all over spectrum than MAGA 45.”

It’s a great comment, because it’s true. I am all over the map. I mean, while I want to see heroin dealers rot in prison, I also think marijuana should be legal. While I believe in strict gun control measures, I also believe lawabiding Americans should be able to buy a gun.

The list goes on, but it’s boring, mostly because the whole “liberal or conservative” thing is so 1980s.

It’s dead. There is no more “liberal or conservative.” There never was. There are precious few people who are 100 percent on either side, but when it comes to political discourse, we run to our respective corners and start screaming.

Why can’t we - wait for it - all just get along?

Yeah, I’m writing this on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and really, if MLK were alive today, he’d be both horrified at America but also licking his chops at the possibilities for what could be. It feels we’re at a tipping point in American history with the consecutive elections of Obama and Trump. We’re either going to figure out how to all get along, or we’re going to break apart, and not just on Facebook.

Time for a King quote here: “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” So true. Consider your life. I’m sure you’re friends with people who disagree with you politically, in some cases drastically. I’m sure you have neighbors that don’t share your views, but you have no trouble sharing a few beers and hot dogs with them.

But if these people are strangers? If they are the “other?” If you have not communicated with them? Then forget it. They automatically become your enemy for no good reason.

The great “split” in this country between liberal and conservative, between the Trumpers and the Obama fans, it’s all a bunch of bull. We slap these labels on ourselves and all it does is further the divide.

I am very confident the vast majority of adult Americans - I’m talking 99.99 percent of us - truly couldn’t care less about the arguments they find themselves in. I am very confident the vast majority of adult Americans - I’m talking 99.99 percent of us - just want a roof above our heads, food on the table, and some love to get us through. (And Netflix. Netflix is key.) And I am very confident the vast majority of adult Americans - I’m talking 99.99 percent of us - just want to be left alone to enjoy life.

It’s time for us to collectively shut the hell up, put our heads down, and get to work bringing Americans back together, despite the (choose one) {idiot we just elected} {idiot we’re finally getting rid of}. We need to stop defining ourselves by politics, and start defining ourselves as Americans.