No excuses...

I had a sobering experience today. I witnessed some incredible hatred that left me feeling truly in disbelief. It's not that I am so naive that I don't think this happens all of the time, but this time, it was touching something I love. Yes, I admit, this was personal.

Over the past few days, our state has been enveloped in wildfires, fanned by winds from a hurricane/tropical storm. Thousands of acres have burned - acres turned into kindling by the exceptional drought. Hundreds of homes have burned. People have died. Firefighters have worked to exhaustion trying to fight against impossible odds.

In trying to find some news about the progress in containing the blazes, I happened upon some national coverage, and out of curiosity, scrolled down to some of the comments made by readers from other parts of the country. I was appalled by the things that were being said, for the most part veiled in political tirades against our governor and his bid for the Presidency. The comments were instead pointed towards the situation at hand - comments such as "Let them burn," and the like. Not just on one site, but on several. As much as I know that these people do this all day, just to be sensationalistic, and to get a rise out of others, I couldn't help being taken back.

As we approach the anniversary of 9/11, it brought back that horrible feeling to me of "How could anybody really hate us so much that they would do this, wish this on innocent people? What kind of human beings are these?"

I have grown so tired of hate-mongering. And gloating, and one-ups-man-ship. There are no excuses...