If this were any other year...

There are relatively normal years when "partisan bickering" meant the back and forth between Democrats and Republicans boiled down to tax cuts, social programs, and national defense.  But, if this were any other year..., we wouldn't be talking about "nullification," repeal of certain parts of the 14th Amendment, prosecuting academics for research that doesn't jive with a particular ideology, or secession from elected officials. 

If this were any other year..., the public debate wouldn't be over the rights of Americans to build a place of worship, if towns across America were being overtaken by Islamic Sharia Law, or if every brown skinned Spanish speaking person was illegally in this country. 

If this were any other year..., the thought of terminating Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and Unemployment Insurance would be laughed out of the room.  Or, the same medical care and coverage that members of our Armed Forces receive would be classified as "Socialized Medicine." 

But, this is not any other year.  This is the year of hyper-partisanship and extremist rhetoric.  This year, the people who are the most energized to get out and vote are the ones who finally have candidates to vote for that share these ultra-nationalistic, extremist ideologies.  These are the people that despite proof positive, a person's place of birth, citizenship, or religious affiliation isn't good enough to qualify them as a red, white, and blue American. 

Birthers, nativists, xenophobes, climate deniers, nullifiers, repeal-and-replace(ers), pro-balanced budget amendment, budget cutters, anti-tax, anti-social safety net, lock'em up advocates.  This is what's on the ballot for November 2nd.  Will Americans hold their collective noses and pull the lever, fill in the bubble, touch the screen for an ultra-conservative, nationalist agenda?  Stay tuned...