The upcoming presidential election is a big one. It is surrounded with controversy on all sides. Emotions are all over the place, and many people are speaking from emotion, not logical thought.

I've seen entirely too much name calling and mocking on both sides of the spectrum. I know this is normal around election time, but this year it seems to be worse. We need to work on our attitudes towards others. After all, we are supposed to be the United States of America, not the Divided States of America.

Just the other day, I was scrolling through my Facebook news feed and saw someone posting an article about how Hillary Clinton had clinched the democratic nomination. With the article, the person who posted said, "Now all the Bernie folks can go crawl back into their holes and come back in a couple of decades when they grow up." Don't you think that's a little harsh? Not only did it come from the conservative, it came from both sides. A response was, "'You believe different than me. Therefore you're wrong and in need of maturation, a really thoughtful, mature line of thinking." Again with the mocking. So many people joined in the conversation, and only one had any logical points to make. Yes, we may disagree. No, we don't need the mocking and name calling.

Debates and arguments are two totally different things. I know emotions are high, but if you speak with people while thinking logically, not emotionally, you will probably accomplish more. Tell someone what you believe, why you believe it, and give evidence. I'll let you in on a little secret: people are more likely to listen to you if you're actually nice to them! A good idea would be to give yourself time to cool down and respond to someone kindly.

When I finally found the good thought lost in all the bad ones, this is what stuck out to me. "Conservatives like to talk about hard work and responsibility. Liberals like to talk about compassion and equality. Can't we realize that all of these are positive qualities?" He later goes on to say, "I think it would do us all good to remember that we do best as a nation when we are 'indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' Instead of attacking each other, let's remember that United We Stand. Divided We Fall."

"[The spirit of party] serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another." -George Washington

I think he was trying to tell us something, and I think all we've done as a nation is prove him right. This is how a nation falls apart. It's time to treat each other with respect, no matter what our beliefs. It's time to act like a nation united, not divided. It's time to get along.