We are worn out from GOP primary fatigue.  Is that redundant?  Doctor John Sharp, Harvard Medical School psychiatrist and  author of The Emotional Challenge, recently said, “…fatigue dis-emboldens us.”  The 21st Century has proven to be fast and furious.  War is present.  Facebook dominates.  Ipad, ipod, smart phones, wi if, financial upheaval – economic uncertainty, troubling times.  Sharp said of our plugged-in culture, “You get dialed into a false sense of urgency.”

When I was a child we had one telephone in our home – a land line as they are now called.  If that phone rang someone answered it, immediately, because it would be rude to keep the person calling waiting.  A time came when people realized that we do not have to accommodate every ring.  In the 1980’s my employer gave me a pager – I became available 24/7.  If the pager buzzed I was to call in immediately.  In the beginning a pager was something of a status symbol – it was a sign of your value to your employer.  Over time the pager became more of a ball and chain.  We are now well past the first decade of the 21st Century – and most of us are tethered to some sort of electronic communications devise.  These devises bring with them a sense of urgency.

The speed of modern communications has brought with it an associated sense of urgency in American politics.  Emails and facebook are filled with rants about the dire state of our country.  Distorted bumper sticker philosophers create images of political leaders as the anti-christ himself – ready to destroy every good thing society has contrived by using a strict interpretation of the U. S. Constitution.

Every political position becomes an evil point of contention – something we must destroy immediately or we shall suffer the consequences of denying God himself.  Positive energy is bei9ng sucked out of our collective conscience.  Fear drives the madness.  The ‘…false sense of urgency…’ dominates our politics.

The real evil is in the lack of thoughtful discourse.  Irrational imagery drives the quest.  Irrational discourse in an attempt to return to our country to sanity is the ironic vehicle to further insanity.

I feel it.  When I receive goofy images or wacko messages – whether from email or facebook or the many other employed media – I feel the sense of urgency to respond.  The debate hastens toward more irrational discourse.  The trap of urgency sucks us in – we become desperate – we must counter the insanity or suffer the consequences.

Being left or right, liberal or conservative, makes no difference.  We respond in kind.  The modern political climate is reactive rather than proactive.  Proactive implies thinking and negotiating and planning our future – and the very thought of rational planning seems to be the designated evil.  Demonizing our opponents grants us the moral high ground – to even discuss an issue with the devil implies our willingness to compromise the Ten Commandments and shirk our duties as Christians.

The moral imperative of fighting evil becomes our flag of redemption.  We charge the well fortified hill or our enemy, waving the flag or righteousness, determined to die if necessary, defending a cause defined by errant emails or facebook postings.

We are spiraling into insanity.