Menu
- New nursing home rules threaten rural communities (4/23/24)
- Human wages, robot purchases in lock-step (4/11/24)
- Heed the call for caution this year in road work zones (4/9/24)
- This year, heed the call for caution in highway work zones (4/9/24)
- Railroad safety should not be left to contract negotiations (4/5/24)
- Rejecting LB764 upholds fairness in Nebraska (4/4/24)
- A wake-up call for young adults: Get your cancer checkups (4/2/24)
Editorial
Clinton, Trump will both carry heavy baggage
Monday, November 7, 2016
Most of us need all the friends we can get, but how strong is "friendship" in this day of social media?
The 2016 election has provided an answer: Not very.
Facebook says the election has generated over 5.3 billion posts, likes, comments and shares, with nearly 110 million Americans taking part in the online debate between January and October this year.
Debate is a good thing if it generates an open, constructive conversation that provides objective examination of various topics and possible solutions.
Debate is a bad thing if the participants simply close their ears to those with whom they disagree and listen only to those who share their opinions and prejudices.
Unfortunately, much online "debate" consists of the latter.
Monmouth University in New Jersey polled 700 voters with social media accounts to find that 7 percent of them either lost or ended a friendship because of this year's presidential race.
Nine percent of Hillary Clinton supporters have unfriended people because of the presidential race, compared to 6 percent of Donald Trump backers and 3 percent of other voters.
More than two-thirds of voters say that this year's presidential race has brought out the worst in people, and most disapprove of the campaign's harsh rhetoric.
Regardless the winner, he or she will be carrying some serious baggage into the White House.
Nearly 58 percent of voters had an unfavorable view of Trump in an average of recent polls, and more than 55 percent viewed Clinton unfavorably.
It's one thing to unfriend someone of Facebook, but another when you're in a position of power and you must work with people holding opposing views to accomplish anything of substance.
Our nation is facing serious problems in the upcoming months and years, from health care to social issues, environment, education and the economy.
Either candidate is likely to face opposition from a Congress unwilling to face political risk associated with any sort of compromise.
But pragmatism and compromise are required if our nation is to make any progress against problems we can all agree upon.
Let's hope it doesn't take too long to at least reach a truce, if not a consensus, after one of the most divisive elections in American history.
Our future depends upon it.