by Gina Rullo

We live in difficult times. We live in troubled economic times. We live in a time of war. We live in a time of social distress. We live in a time of political unrest. We live in difficult times.
We have not yet found our footing as a single society in this country.
The wounds of the Vietnam War, segregation and the Cold War have been reopened in recent years.
Ignoring the problems our country is facing will not make them go away.
The majority of Americans do not understand war. How could we? We may understand the reasons to fight, but we will never understand the passion to fight. We understand the number of lives lost, but we cannot understand the true meaning of the losses war imparts on a nation.
For many, acting as if we are not a country at war is a way of life.
Because ignoring a problem or a difficult issue is much easier than facing the trauma our country endures daily.
I see a protest against the war as a protest against the soldiers who are fighting. It may be simplistic, but it is my view.
Protest against the government. Protest against the president. Just don’t protest against the work the men and women are doing in the Middle East. It is their job.
The Civil Rights Movement peaked more than four decades ago. But there has not been a true healing or a true tearing down of the walls that separates the races.
Yes, we may see people of a different skin tone as the same as ourselves. But they are not. Nor am I to them.
But being different does not make you wrong or less than the person next to you.
Are there long-standing resentments on all racial sides? Yes. And the race issue is not just about blacks and whites. It is about everybody who has a skin tone. Because everybody has issues relating to their race.
We have not yet begun to talk about these issues in earnest as a nation. How can we?
The minute we do, people’s sensitivities are raised, old hurts are brought to the surface and past incidents are relived. And nothing is accomplished.
It has been 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell. Have we made tremendous strides in ending that era of hate and mistrust? I say no.
I say we just transferred the Berlin Wall to the Middle East. Instead of questioning the actions of everyone who ascribes to communist beliefs, we question and look down on everyone who prays to Allah.
But for what reason?
Wasn’t this land settled so a group could avoid religious persecution?
Shouldn’t we remain open-minded about religious freedom?
While other nations may be imposing stricter laws on people of different faiths, it is no reason for us to do the same.
We live in a nation that cannot be compared to any other. We take on the burdens of others. We respond either fiscally or forcefully.
Our motives are not altruistic. It is only fair to acknowledge the economic benefit that can be reaped.
America is the greatest country on earth. But it is not perfect. Because we, the citizens of this nation, are not perfect ourselves.
We are flawed. We have imperfections. Rising above our troubles makes us better and makes our nation better.
How will we heal and become better?
We must unite as a nation. In the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin printed an editorial cartoon depicting a snake broken into eight segments. Under the illustration were the words “Join or Die.”
The same is true today.
It is my whole-hearted belief that the president who will unite our nation is not running for president. I don’t think he (or she) will run as a Democrat or a Republican. Both parties have become shells of their former selves. I don’t see the candidate being an Independent, either.
A new party will form. And it won’t be some sort of Ross Perot-faux party. It will be a true party with beliefs and candidates who have not become bogged down in the political system. Writers, thinkers and businessmen will join this new party and move the momentum along.
This has not been done since the revolutionary times on any level.
In the meantime, we as Americans must act in a manner that befits our nation. America is the land of hopes and dreams. America is a land where freedom is expected.
We must look upon our fellow citizens with an unbiased eye and leave prejudice out of our lives as best we can.
And we need to acknowledge openly and bluntly the wrongs of the past. Our anger and biases need to be explored and honest conversations need to take place among those who can make a difference.
Volatile personalities need not be present. Rhetoric will have no place in these meetings.
We must act as one country in the coming years. Our nation depends upon it.
As Benjamin Franklin once said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Gina Rullo is the editor-in-chief of The Gazette.