Negativity rules political world

Published 12:00 pm Thursday, July 7, 2016

Like Americans all over the country, I was surprised and somewhat shocked by the outcome of the FBI’s investigation into former Secretary of State and presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

For a year, the FBI has been investigating Clinton and her use of a personal email account and allegedly facilitated classified information that several conservatives believe compromised national security. On Tuesday, FBI director James Comey announced charges would not be filed against Clinton, although he admonished her and her support staff for their recklessness with potentially compromising the security of our nation. He concluded that the breach in protocol was not deliberate but rather poor judgement.

The announcement seems to have divided an already fractured political landscape in our country.

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Supporters and detractors of Clinton took to social media with constant support and ridicule following the director’s statements.

Conservative Republicans ripped into the director for not filing charges against Clinton, while liberal Democrats cheered the decision as they head into the Democratic convention in just a few weeks.

The decision also heated up the campaign trail with expected Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump railing on Comey and the justice system he called corrupt. The ridicule is only expected to get worse as we head down the stretch to the November election. Clinton fired back at Trump while in front of his closed New Jersey casino.

We can expect more of the same throughout the summer and it makes me wonder where are the true Statesmen of our nation?

The Ronald Reagan’s, John F. Kennedy’s and the Abraham Lincoln’s of our time seem to be non-existent or rather they are drowned out by the constant barrage of negativity that seems to be rampant in American politics.

Where have all the men and women who decide to get into public service for the “right reasons” gone? Have they all faded? Is this truly the best that we have to choose to lead our country?

Quite honestly, I do not see either candidate capable of healing a country that seems so divided and fractured along political lines.

So the bad news is it’s going to be a long summer in the political arena. The good news is that we can look forward to kickoff of the college football season in two months.

Rob Sigler is managing editor of The Oxford EAGLE. Contact him at rob.sigler@oxfordeagle.com.