One person is only allowed the power to inflict widespread harm by his enablers, and history is replete with examples of otherwise intelligent, moral people standing by and doing nothing (or worse, participating) while the worst among us work to tear us apart. I don't intend to give a psychology lesson as to why it is so easy for us to fall into this trap, but we are tribal creatures and when faced with perceived threats, that tribalism rises to the surface above the better angels of our nature.

If you are not completely appalled by the family separations happening at our southern border right now, then either you are falling victim to your tribal instincts or you are a sociopath, and I feel I have seen enough from everyone here to doubt the latter. This activity is so far from the principles of this country that under any other circumstances it would shock us all to our very core.

But we have worked up to this gradually. After the election, many conservatives didn't care for Trump and were concerned about the direction he would take, having only voted for him in opposition to Hillary. Slowly but surely, however, many of those people have started defending the very sort of actions they were worried about on inauguration day.

In 2016 very few conservatives would have thought they could tolerate, much less defend protectionist trade policies, but now many are.

In 2016, few conservatives would have thought they could support alienating pretty much every ally the US has had for the last 75 years in favor of adversaries like Russia and North Korea, but now many justify it.

In 2016, conservatives angered by the weakness they felt Obama showed when offering to talk to dictators with no preconditions would never have thought they'd cheer Donald J. Trump doing the same, talking glowingly about said dictator, and giving concessions with very little in return, but now many are.

You would think that politics couldn't take you far enough to condone human rights abuses by the US government. Surely that's a bridge too far. In 2016 surely all of you would have thought it incomprehensible to tolerate and support policies this extreme. And yet here we are. I don't know what you think in your heart of hearts, but your mouths and your fingers say you are okay with tearing babies from their mothers' arms for the crime of seeking refuge from a country that once prided itself on taking those mothers and babies in and giving them shelter from the storms of their homelands.

You may not actively condone or approve of this barbaric policy, but you deflect and distract and that is just as bad. That is enabling. That is supporting your tribe no matter how bad its actions are. And while we look at past atrocities and think there is absolutely no way we could ever allow them in this country, just stop and think how far the enabling has gone already.

Lounge liberals and conservatives, forget politics. Forget moral high ground, forget elections, forget Hillary and Obama. Please try to remember that above all else, your tribe is humanity, and let that guide your better angels to the surface.

Take care,

Clocky