Surprisingly, there are over 6,000 languages spoken by the inhabitants of this tiny planet we call home. Tragically, with the spewing of verbal vomit on the 2016 presidential campaign trail, the United States is daily creating a despicable dialect as the world's newest language.
Presently, we, and our children, are subjected to the rawest and most unbridled political discourse in modern U.S. election history, and goodness, the quadrennial political conventions are still weeks away. Without a doubt, there will be long term consequences from the lacerated languages of this year's national elections. It is reasonable to fear that what is said on the presidential campaign trail will likely spread across the nation like the zombie apocalypse that destroyed London in only 28 days.
Another thing, why have journalists and politicians politicized the word "attack"? No longer do we describe a strong disagreement one candidate has with an opponent as an argument or embittered differences over a certain proposal. Instead, we use the incendiary word "attack". Whether the word attack is used as a noun or a verb, ferocity is the message. We can consciously avoid using warlike words and, hopefully, turn down the screeching campaign language. Look, what a crazed gunman did in an Orlando night club was an attack. When Americans declare that one race of people is incapable of serving as a fair and impartial judge -- that is an undisguised attack.
Bigoted statements are swinish and harmful to our multiracial nation. Such statements are politically and purposefully uttered to denigrate and divide. To do so is to ignore that the reality is that there is more power in unity than division. Candidates who do not think carefully about what they say will not likely think deeply about anything else. Perhaps more than any recent election in our great nation, the world is watching. Therefore, we should understand that the political campaigns, now more than ever, are a self-portrait of who we are as a nation. It is what we value as the world's only superpower, not our wealth, which makes us rich.
Do not misread my words. I believe that deep and strongly contested debate is the lifeblood of our democracy; reckless racial rhetoric is its rot. And when radical, religious, or personal appearances are used against a candidate, the good men and women of our national leaders must condemn it. To know what is right and not speak it is worse than outright doing wrong.