Blogocentric Formulations

Positive Thing #1

POSITIVE THING #1

It might seem a little worrisome to start a positive blogging activity with a story about politics, but I think this is one worth mentioning because it's so rare that anything is a bipartisan effort at this point. Over the weekend, a Republican office was attacked by vandals who threw a Molotov cocktail through the window and spray-painted a swastika and "Nazi Republicans leave town" on a nearby building.

What's so surprising about this story is that a group of local Democrats started a GoFundMe campaign the very next day in an effort to raise money to repair their political opponents' offices as quickly as possible. Their message, one designed to promote a moment of "graciousness, not fractiousness" was as follows:

“As Democrats, we are starting this campaign to enable the Orange County, North Carolina Republican office to re-open as soon as possible.

Until an investigation is undertaken, we cannot know who did this or why. No matter the result, this is not how Americans resolve their differences. We talk, we argue, sometimes we march, and most of all we vote. We do not resort to violence by individuals or by mobs.

So, let’s all pitch in, no matter what your party affiliation, in and get that office open again quickly.”

The campaign met and exceeded its $10,000 goal (eventually raising just over $13,000) in less than a day.

It's nice to see, in this extremely polarized and volatile political climate, that some people still understand the idea that physical violence and terrorism is never the answer to a difference of opinions... and that regardless of whether we're Republican or Democrat, Independent or otherwise, we can still come together and help each other when tragedy strikes.

For further reading, check out this Huffington Post article  .