I have not done much writing lately. Well, let me rephrase that. I haven’t done any writing on the blog lately. However I have been writing. I wrote a small size book about my adoption story for my family. In addition, I have done much research on “first love” which is a fascinating study in human psychology. If you had a first love in your teens, I recommend reading about the topic of “first love”. There is much evidence that it affects your love relationship choices in the future. I wrote an essay about my own personal story in regard to “first love”. Through my study I found closure, wisdom, and perspective on many levels. I feel I am all the better for it.

But my Dovetail blog is about striving for political and national unity. During this past year, I have found a group called Millions of Conversations. This group believes in building understanding through talking and, especially, listening to others. I wish I had the chance to talk and listen to people more but I live out of town and just don’t get much of a chance. So I’m writing instead.

My mind is always thinking about our two party political system and the huge divide we have right now. As I’ve stated before, I’m about as middle of the road as you can be between liberal and conservative. I can see positives in both camps. My hot button issue is employment, I believe in a living wage job for all Americans who are capable of working. I think that my beliefs developed from years of financial insecurity due to many circumstances that led to unemployment while trying to raise a young family

I will always support the politician who promotes job growth in the most practical way.

Again, I’m wavering from the topic which is American unity. I can see a solution but neither party is going to like what it is. I think both parties and politicians but, most importantly, the American people, will need to step back from their aggressive agendas. Take a breath and step back a few steps. The world is not going to end if we pause a little on pushing our domestic agendas within the United States. The progress we’ve made in social, economic, equality, voting and other issues will serve us for now. But, if we fail to unite in foreign affairs, the world as we know it may end.

After growing up under the threat of nuclear war, I’m not afraid to admit that I’m afraid of Russia and the Russian government. I’m not afraid of the Russian people or culture but I am afraid of Russian power. As they flex their muscles on the border of the Ukraine, I pray for those citizens who will be directly affected, both Ukrainian and Russian. I pray that diplomacy will succeed. If the Ukraine goes, what will be next?

Added to this crisis is the Chinese situation. I’ve always had the feeling that we were making a mistake back in the 1970s when we established a working relationship with China. We would have been better off leaving them in their isolation. But, we have to look at where we are now. Again, it’s not the people or the culture, it’s the government. I’m afraid of China’s reach into countries who are using Chinese funding to better their infrastructure in exchange for a Chinese presence. This is occuring in Southeastern, Central, and Eastern Europe, plus South Asia. I believe the same thing is happening in Venezuela. To me, the writing is on the wall, they are spreading their influence out amongst the free world. Let’s face it, an airport they build could easily be transformed into a Chinese military base. It’s not hard to see their ultimate objective.

Americans, can we please unite about this?