There’s plenty of blame to go around these days as to who is responsible for the sad and frightening state of political discourse in this country. Obamaphiles, #NeverTrump, Trumpers, Democrats, Republicans…ask anyone who is to blame and there’s a good chance at least one these terms or something equivalent will come out of their mouths.

We might not be able to trace the origins of our current state of divisiveness (and maybe it’s never been one thing; maybe it’s just been a slow slide that has been picking up steam as of late) but we can lay the fever pitch we find ourselves in the midst of right at the feet of the mainstream media.

Many on the right were properly disturbed by recent video of Maxine Waters encouraging Americans to surround government officials in public and harass them and shout them down. What was additionally tragic is how many people on the left not only derided conservatives for feeling concerned about such rhetoric, but actively cheered on the concept.

Think about what they are advocating for – any public Trump administration official just out with their family…their children can now be subject to mobs surrounding them, preventing them from doing normal activities like eating out or grocery shopping. It’s one thing to hate a person, it’s quite another to scream at them while they’re getting ice cream with their 10-year-old.

But this is what the mainstream media has dumped at the feet of the American people.

It is normal for people to feel upset over election results. Electing the leadership of our nation requires a passionate, engaged citizenry. It is uncomfortable to be at odds with one’s neighbor or family-member over politics, but the process dictates that we hold serious, meaningful personal opinions about those in office. There will inevitably be a tension that results from that.

However, that tension becomes utter hysteria when you have a media – as we do – that casually drops bombs on the American electorate and then slinks away to their gated, upscale communities to report on the damage.

For two years straight the mainstream media told us Hillary Clinton was a lock to win the White House in 2016. There wasn’t even a question. No one even bothered to delve a little deeper into polls, listen a little closer to the frustrated people, or uncover the unpleasant stories of those living with the negative consequences of some of Obama’s policies. Instead, the sycophants in the media painted any and every American expressing displeasure with the Democrats with very broad, monotone brush of RACISM.

For them, there was absolutely no way people who didn’t live in the coastal cities were going to matter in the upcoming election. They’re all bigots and racists anyway. Clearly they don’t count and neither will their votes.

For two years that is all we heard – Trump is a joke. He’ll never win. Will we refer to Bill Clinton as the First Gentleman or will he take another title?

For two years we read headlines that distorted Trump’s platform into deceptively edited soundbites and panicked headlines. No, Trump never said Mexicans are rapists. He did say that in enforcing our immigration policies we should at least be allowed to deport those with criminal records – rapists, gang members, etc. – back to Mexico. If we can’t deport every illegal immigrant, we should at least be able to protect ourselves against the ones who come here with criminal records.

But all that is too long for a headline. It doesn’t get clicks. It doesn’t scare people into voting for Hillary. And that’s exactly what the media was actively pursing – scaring people into voting for Hillary. If you don’t vote for Hillary, you will be allowing a man who thinks all Mexicans are rapists to win the highest office in the land!

On election night 2016 – after 2 years of hearing how Hillary Clinton would surely break that glass ceiling at the White House – well, of course left-wing Americans and Democrat voters were feeling something fishy must be going on. CNN guaranteed us Hillary! They promised! They said it was a sure thing!

In the wake of Trump’s victory the breathless reporting of Trump as LITERALLY HITLER ginned up and has been on a constant loop ever since. So now we have an entire portion of our population who are sincerely convinced that Hitler occupies the White House and everyone working for him is the second coming of Joseph Goebbles. If you’re a decent human being you can’t just stand by and let Hitler run America. YOU MUST DO SOMETHING! THIS IS THE FATE OF THE FREE WORLD AT STAKE!

That is the level of frenzy with which the legacy media has reported every development of this administration; and while the talking heads at CNN know damn well that they’re playing games for clicks and ratings, the rest of their viewer base is left feeling panicked and helpless, sincerely believing that at any moment the Brown Shirts are going to march into their homes and places of work and haul off every woman, minority and gay person. SOMEONE HAS TO DO SOMETHING.

Suddenly nearly half the population has a moral obligation to civil disobedience. Instead of simply engaging politically and gearing up for the next elections (which happen every 2-4 years, rain or shine), now average people have an imperative to cause trouble, to scream and shout and physically obstruct anyone who is associated with the President in any way, even if they’re just a neighbor who voted for him.

What used to be considered common decency and decorum is no longer on table. After all, these people are evil…literal evil…LITERALLY HITLER!!!!!! You can’t be polite about opposing evil. So all options are acceptable. These aren’t human beings…CNN said so.

The mainstream media is absolutely and without a doubt complicit in the current culture of hysteria and indignation we are all navigating right now. It won’t get better until they decide to stop being instigators and start being reporters again.