This election should cause every single adult in this country to think about who they are.

President Obama has said, “I see a straight line from the announcement of Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential nominee to what we see today in Donald Trump, the emergence of the Freedom Caucus, the tea party, and the shift in the center of gravity for the Republican Party”.  I agree with this, but I don't think it goes far enough.  John McCain is not solely responsible for all of this.  And Hillary Clinton is almost as big a problem as Donald Trump.  We have all allowed this situation to come into being. Every one of us has played a role.  We all have responsibility for creating the circumstances that have allowed these two presidential candidates to be our only options. I hope every American will spend time over the coming weeks, months, and even years thinking about what they could have done differently to help avoid this catastrophe.

Personally, I think back to when George W. Bush was elected president, particularly the second time.  It made me so angry.  I said many things about him that, while perhaps true, still added to the vitriol in the American political scene.  Maybe if I had held my tongue it would have contributed to a healthier emotional climate and Trump and Clinton wouldn't be our candidates today.  And now I wouldn't be put in the position of trying to speak clearly about two candidates who I feel are so poorly qualified to be president, without adding to the nastiness surrounding them.

Everything we do impacts everything else.  Our choices do matter.  I hope this election will help people remember that.

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."  -John Muir