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I don’t have the room

I’d like to be able to say something profound and uplifting — write a message of universal love and tolerance and how we all stand on common ground and that no matter what our history, we are connected.

But I’m surrounded by sounds of hate and intolerance. I can’t open Facebook anymore without my senses being assaulted. I can’t read my morning news without being beat about the head and shoulders with it.

The best part of my day is getting in my car and driving to work.

I pop in a compact disc (or plug in my MP3 player if it’s charged) and crank up the music.

I’m talking, make my ears bleed loud.

Give me Pearl Jam, or Alterbridge, or Pop Evil, and when I really feel fed up, a little August Burns Red, and let me get all of that crap out of my system.

See, I don’t have room in my heart for hate.

Not today. And not tomorrow.

You know what? We need cops. We need them a lot.

Nobody thought about defunding police when New York’s finest ran into the towers trying to save lives.

Nobody said, “Get cops out of schools” after Sandy Hook.

Sure, there are bad cops. Cops are people just like you and me. As a profession they have as many bad apples as any other. But don’t let the bad overshadow the good. You know who hates bad cops more than anybody? Good cops, that’s who.

And guess what?

Black Lives DO Matter.

Maybe we, us white people, should look in the mirror and ask ourselves why the Black Lives Matter movement has become such a strong voice.

We all have some soul searching to do and we better move it along.

Because it should be “we” as in all of us. Not white or black or brown or any other color you can think of. Because “we” are all in this crazy thing called life together.

So, can we please get used to that?

Please?

Hey, you don’t like our president? Don’t vote for him. That’s the beauty of living in America.

You don’t like Joe Biden? Don’t vote for him. That’s the beauty of living in this country.

But to spew hate and shout falsehoods and insult those who like that guy or this guy or that woman or this woman or belongs to this political party or that political party …

I love free speech. I do. I am happy you express your opinions and your thoughts and your ideas and your dreams.

But some of this stuff …

With great freedom comes great responsibility.

Get an original idea and think it through instead of rehashing what talking heads throw at you. You’d think you’d at least be honest and change your name to “Memorex.”

Oh man, now you have me cranking up Rage Against the Machine.

What’s wrong with you? Thanks to you and your vileness I’m going to be deaf by the time November rolls around.

Major League Baseball … You so disappoint me.

The one major sports league that’s supposed to stand above the rest, to truly be America’s pastime, and you blew it in 2020.

I expected more from a league that gave us Jackie Robinson, who inspired movies like “Bull Durham” and “Major League” and “The Sandlot.”

Okay, it also inspired, “The Babe,” but I’ll let that one slide.

What happened to you?

We, us, the United States and all of its citizens needed you this summer and you squabbled like spoiled children fighting for the last piece of bubble gum.

Yeah, I hear some “We Came As Romans” in my future.

No, I don’t have room for all this hate in my heart.

I’m filling it with music.

Very loud music.