LETTER: Political division at its worst levels

To the editor:

We haven’t had such division in our country since United States Sen. Joseph McCarthy made false accusations of treason among left-wing individuals in the 1950s. His campaign spread fear of alleged communist and socialist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet Agents. He lost credibility after several of his accusations were found to be false.

Unfortunately, history is repeating itself. Now we have the “big lie” which alleges Donald Trump won the 2020 election due to voter fraud. At this time, there has been no evidence that points to illegal votes as the reason Trump lost. The movement has, however, caused our country to be more and more divided as time goes on.

McCarthy was not the only Wisconsinite to divide our state. Former Gov. Scott Walker used his “divide and conquer” strategy when it came to the state’s budgeting process. He pitted public employee unions against those who wished to take down organized labor. In reality, it was less about budget-cutting and more about his personal campaign to weaken worker’s power.

Fox News has only fueled the divide in our country. If you tune in (which I do only occasionally), you will hear daily rhetoric about how bad President Joe Biden’s policies are and how the Democrats are destroying our country.

If you go off Fox News, which I would recommend, and listen to other cable stations such as CNBC, you will get less opinions and more “hard news.” By tuning into “The News with Shepard Smith” at 6 p.m., you will get a non-political leaning on the true news.

By the way, Shep used to be a host on Fox but left because he didn’t like how they were using a false premise — disinformation about election fraud — to lead people astray. He could see how this behavior was spreading seeds of division and thus doing harm to us as a nation. He couldn’t take it anymore. He sleeps well at night knowing that his broadcasting of the news gives people the truth.

Keep in mind that division has been used as a path to power worldwide for centuries. This holiday season should be the start of our effort to put aside politics and love our neighbor as ourselves as the Second Commandment suggests. We can each be the catalyst that makes the world a better place for all.

Jan Koch, Shawano