By Dan Irvin

It is primary election day locally and in Illinois. In the current political climate, it seems more important than maybe any time in your life that your choices be registered.

I am so, so saddened at the lack of respect being shown by virtually everyone in practically every aspect of modern political discourse.

Disrespect for others is a hallmark of candidates, supporters, even the media; in elections at every level, in every place, and all the time.

Candidates insult each other at a personal level: really, really mean-spirited stuff.

Unapologetically biased national media join in the free-for-all of deprecation.

Then, to get their few seconds of fame, private citizens join the fray in the trappings of support for candidates or protests against candidates and their supporters. They receive attention from the media or vituperative response from the other side and further fuel is added to the fire.

It’s not merely something we’re seeing on television now. It’s here. It has come to our community, displaying heretofore unseen – by me anyway – churlish behavior.

Now, what gives me hope that we have not leapt off a bridge, never to get our humanity back, is that this love affair we seem to have with being – wow I’d love to us a non-family-friendly word here, but I won’t – this love affair we have with being… um….jerk-ish, exists primarily in this context of politicking.

In conducting day-to-day life in our community, people are still pretty helpful, friendly, and courteous. I’m banking on that to somehow correct this problem in the long run.

Well, anyway, I hope everybody calms down and simply speaks with their votes today.

And then that they go say something nice to somebody.

Dan Irvin is Vice-President of the Bloomington Public Library Foundation Board, and a member of the Heartland Community College Foundation Board.

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