Am I proud to be an American? Yes. This is the country that gave my parents a wonderful place to live after they barely escaped from Nazi Germany. Am I happy with the direction this country is headed into? No.

Politics have overruled governance. Turn on CNN or MSNBC or any national or local newscast and little of it is positive news that makes me proud to be an American. As a former newspaper reporter, I’m a news junkie and I am finding it very painful to see the direction our country is moving in, politically.

There is so much violence going on right now, heartbreaking stories. One of the victims in the University of Idaho stabbings was a young man from Skagit County. Gun violence is exploding with heartbreaking stories of youngsters getting access to firearms. Our country has to do what Australia did after experiencing similar gun violence and make it much much harder for people to purchase and own weapons. Why is anyone allowed to buy a pistol?

In the last couple of weeks, most of the news on those two networks has been about the discovery of many classified documents belonging to President Joe Biden. Although its being blown out of proportion, it is still extremely upsetting to know that Biden has not been forthcoming with these documents and it might be intentional, or he might be a victim of age discrimination.

Speaking of age discrimination, we are being told that Biden wants to run again in the next election, which I think is a terrible idea at this age. I am hoping that our next president will be much younger and we won’t have to worry about presidential dementia. There are a couple of wonderful women governors, and serving as a governor is perfect training for the presidency.

I want a president who prioritizes the welfare of her or his constituents and takes a very strong stand against gun violence in our country. I want another Abraham Lincoln or FDR or Bill Clinton or Barack Obama to lead us into a less violent, more democratic future.

I thought we had come so far when we put a man on the moon in 1969 but when you look around our world and see how much violence and discrimination there is in so many places, it is clear that we still have a long way to go.