According to Wikipedia, “the phrase ‘you’re either with us, or against us’ and similar variations are used to depict situations as being polarized and to force witnesses, bystanders, or others unaligned with some form of pre-existing conflict to either become allies of the speaking party or lose favor. The implied consequence of not joining the team effort is to be deemed an enemy.”

Perhaps the most famous recent statement of that rule is President George W. Bush’s assertion in 2001, “You’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists.”

Essentially this is a binary view of the world, most interestingly shared by fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Islam, which many erroneously believe to be opposites. British scientist Prof. Richard Dawkins has flatly called both the most dangerous groups in the world today.

Those with a keen grasp of the obvious often say modern day America is the most divided it’s ever been since the end of the Civil War. And this flies in the face of Abraham Lincoln’s warning that “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Podcaster Seth Andrews this week interviewed Dr. Valarie Tarico, a psychologist, on the issue of this great divide and found that the self-righteous right and the purist left share insistence on 100 percent agreement, the proverbial marching in lock step. We have long known that fundamentalist Christian groups separate the world into two groups, the good and the evil, but too many left-wingers do the same on the other end of the political spectrum.

I have long despised the lack of political understanding of those who call me a Democrat when I show my dislike of Republicans. They seem to think, very simply, “if you’re not a Republican, you’re a Democrat.” Yet I railed against Hillary Clinton in 2016 and the only reason I voted for her reluctantly was that I believed Donald Trump to be an even worse alternative.

As I have said to friends and enemies, “For me, Trump is so bad he forced me to vote for Hillary Clinton.”

I certainly have had my problems with Dems. I despise what Hillary and Debbie Wasserman Schultz did to Bernies Sanders in rigging the 2016 presidential primary. I have serious issues with Nancy Pelosi and oppose her at times, as I do with Diane Feinstein.

Politics should be more nuanced than black and white, red and blue, Democrat and Republican, capitalist and socialist.

I share the outrage of conservatives and Republicans when certain speakers are banned from making their cases on campuses. I happen to be believe in free speech. How else can I explain why I permit the columns of Army Bob and Ranger Rick. At the risk of being misunderstood, I firmly believe that “even the village idiot has a right to be heard.”

I share the opinion of moderates that we shouldn’t always think someone who committed a faux pas so long ago doesn’t have the ability to apologize and change, as in the case of Virginia’s black-faced governo.

It is painful every day to see and read memes widely circulated on Facebook that under the guise of being humorous, widen the gap between Americans. It’s like Michigan State fans taunting and dissing Michigan fans, ignoring the fact we all live in the same state.

I am extremely weary of visual comparisons of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to a donkey and President Trump to an orangutan. I am sick and tired of supposed “jokes” that depict political enemies as buffoons, animals or cretins. They do absolutely nothing to advance any attempts at civil political discourse, honest disagreements and they do a terrific job of keeping us in an “us vs. them” mentality.

It is my firm belief that we never really did get over the Civil War and we’ve been in denial for more than 150 years. I also insist we collectively are going a very poor job of handling a rapidly and constantly changing society.

Some astute political, economic and social observers are warning that we are in the last days of the American Empire, and we are going down soon. We shouldn’t be surprised. Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.