Working in news, I have to consume news locally, nationally and internationally.

Over the years, my Twitter feed has become my main news source and I have cultivated it to be mostly reporters related to my sports teams and national reporters (and of course that one feed that rates dogs for the cute puppy photos).

I leave the feed open on my computer pretty much all day to see what is happening, but recently the news cycle has become so fast, and so bleak that I feel like I am on a merry-go-round with no break.

The news cycle is dominated by the Russia investigation, school shootings, stories of immigrant children being ripped from their parents at the border and the growing divide in our country.

We have reached the point where corporate America is leaching every dime they can from people making food, housing and things like internet where net neutrality just went away unaffordable for anyone not making more than six figures.

The leaders we have elected to represent us can’t come to an agreement to do anything. Our planet is getting destroyed, our roads and bridges are crumbling and every time you turn around they are taking more money away from education.

We have reached a tipping point where the country has lost its moral compass and nobody is willing to work together.

On the left, is exceedingly easy to be labeled a bigot if you don’t immediately adopt and agree to the ever-changing norms of what you are supposed to accept and be OK with.

On the right, the decisiveness of us versus them has become a cancer. If you don’t practice the same faith as someone or have the same skin tone as someone, it seems to have become acceptable to not look at them as human and having rights.

We have accepted Kim Jong Un, who has assassinated family members and starved his people, being called a great leader while Justin Trudeau is told there is a special place in Hell for him.

Parts of Puerto Rico still don’t have power, the water in Flint is still unclean, more children died at school this year than soldiers were killed in combat zones, but every day this gets brushed aside as a new story or shiny object steals our attention. 

It is not one person to blame, although some of the rhetoric causing it comes from the top, nor is it a Republican or Democratic issue. It is an all of us issue.

It is time we get back to being able to talk to people who disagree with us and ask them why and what their reasoning is instead of attacking them. It is time for big business to pay people a livable wage and not squeeze every cent they can out of people as they consolidate and take on record debt.

It is time for the people elected to office to do their jobs. Build bridges, fix roads, fund education, and come together and compromise instead of listening to the far wings of either party. 

It is time we look in the mirror and decide where we want to go, because where we are now is not tenable and is emotionally draining to see the heartbreaking story of the day come across.

  Brandon O’Connor is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. You may reach him at brandon.oconnor@vicksburgpost.com.