I do not understand...

It seems for the first time in my adult life that most personal conversations surround politics, and people on both sides (me included) are unable to listen to the other side. I now try to read Fox News everyday, listen to Patriot radio, and scour the feeds of a few individuals on FB who I believe will help me understand the view from the other side. I have to say, I do not understand the view from the other side when it comes to the situation in Charlotesville. I am not sure why Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and many other Republicans have not called our President out by name. This seems to be a clear opportunity to protect the office and not the man... Perhaps I am failing to understand the whole situation and all that has gone on, but here are a few things I think I may have wrapped my head around.

1. Everyone has the right to free speech. I may not like the speech but they have the right to it, never the less. As far as I know, even "hate speech" is protected unless such speech incites violence.

2. One side may have had a permit, though I have not been able to verify if the other side didn't or more importantly if in that public space a permit was even required.

3. At the risk of sounding cocky, I consider myself to be a relatively fine individual, if I find myself in the company of individuals yelling demeaning slogans about people of other races, color, sexuality, etc... I would at a minimum, walk away.

4. On questions of morality and ethics there are often gray areas. I often think of it as a bell curve. Certain things are definitely wrong, certain things definitely right and certain things are somewhere in the ambiguous middle/grey area as we sometime call it. I must be mistaken, but in my mind there is nothing ambiguous about whether white supremacists are bad, they are. I must be mistaken about this as well, but in my mind there is however at least a slight ambiguity about whether the groups on the other side in Charlottesville are bad. In such circumstances, I do not understand the defense of "many sides" or the equivalency that creates.

5. In regards to the confederate statues: George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were slave owners, and General Lee arguably fought to protect the right to own slaves. I guess I must be mistake about the difference, because I believe the former two helped found our great nation while the latter was the leader of an army that was trying to secede from our great nation. This too is another equivalency I do not understand...

I encourage people to please leave comments, even if you disagree. I know many of us have a lot to say and I hope this medium helps people say it. Also comments are a way for me to gauge if people are actually reading and if it means anything to them. If so, I will venture to posts more things and start more conversations. =)