Sunshine and Olly

by Jonathan Blaustein

Freedom isn’t free. 

It requires compromise and respect. 

Unfortunately, the more Americans are divided, and the less time we spend IRL with the “other side,” the harder it is to bust out of cycles of violence.

Prejudice breaks down when individuals have positive interactions with actual, real people who challenge, or even subvert stereotypical perceptions. 

All of this stuff is predicable, and in fact was predicted. 

(All of this being political violence.)

There’s one simple way to fix things: Everyone needs to chill the fuck out!






This summer, I spent time with a Republican relative who seems to have it all. 

From the outside looking in, not much to complain about. 

Yet there was plenty of complaining, all of it about The Left. 

Not Russia or China. 

Just other Americans, who believe differently.

In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Spencer Cox, the Republican governor of Utah, (where the crime occurred,) was quoted in The Washington Post saying, 

“Our nation is broken...Nothing I say can unite us as a country. Nothing I can say right now can fix what is broken.”

How about saying, “Enough already! We are not each others’ enemies. We are all Americans. We just live different lifestyles, in different places, and believe different things. 

So what? Who cares? Live and let live. Let’s just get over ourselves.”

That’s what I’d say, anyway. 








Living in northern New Mexico, you’re thrust together with people who like guns, for hunting or self-defense. There are people with a rural perspective that leads them to vote Republican. 

Are they all evil?

Should I hate them all? 

Is every single Christian person who believes that abortion is murder a terrible person?

Forever, should I see them as enemies to my way of life?

Or what about the hyper-progressives who believe that we shouldn’t have any police at all?

I believe that law enforcement is an essential part of a functioning republic. 

Does that mean that now I have to hate all progressives too?








I don’t mean to play rhetorical games here, because what’s the point?

Rather, I felt today was not a day to stay silent.

Decent, honest, law-abiding folks have opinions too.

Enough already, people.

Chill the fuck out! 

Please figure out how to see the humanity in people with whom you vehemently disagree.

We all need to do it.








Governor Cox seems to have come to a similar conclusion.

Here’s the quote WaPo ended with.

“We just need every single person in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be, to ask ourselves, ‘Is this it? Is this what 250 years have wrought on us?’ I pray that that’s not the case,” Cox said.

Enough with the thoughts and prayers.

It takes guts to reach out the other side.

Let’s demand both Democrats and Republicans grow some stomachs, and engage in the messy functions of democratic government. 

Leaders lead.