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Politics, Civility

Stop Calling America Stupid

My Spy editorial for January 15, 2025

John Dean
Dean’s List
Published in
4 min readJan 15, 2025

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Photo by Alex Haney on Unsplash.

There is a lot to write about in the political world these days with less than a week until Donald Trump returns to the White House. For my weekly editorial in Spy Community Media’s newspapers on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, I chose to ignore current events (most too painful to focus on) and write about the political divide and how we might bridge it.

The piece is inspired by a political cartoon I saw featuring one group of angry people shouting “Nazis!” at another group shouting “lunatics” and “Communists!” The idea is that dialog becomes all but impossible when we call each other names.

I have been trying to quit calling my fellow citizens of the MAGA persuasion idiots, not only because many of them are not, but also because if I call them idiots, I won’t be talking to to them for long.

The editorial, as published, may be found here and below.

Stop Calling America Stupid

I’m thinking about starting a new political movement–one with the goal of starting to bridge the political gap that often appears to be the forerunner of the next civil…

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Dean’s List
Dean’s List

Published in Dean’s List

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John Dean
John Dean

Written by John Dean

Writing on politics, photography, nature, the environment, dogs, and, occasionally, humor. Editor of Dean’s List.

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