Two women sat together in the waiting area at the medical center.  They spoke in hushed voices meant only for each other.  Their conversation centered on the interaction they’d had with their driver. Apparently she had asked them questions about the area.  They decided that due to her inquisitive nature she must be with Interpol.  That got my attention.

It was already a strange day.  It was raining in Southern California and the mood in the waiting area was quite somber.  This was probably due more to the weather than to the inauguration ceremonies occurring simultaneously thousands of miles away in Washington D.C.  Along with a sinus infection, these things affected my own mood.

In 2001, George W. Bush took the oath of office for his first term.  I feel the same way I did then:  apprehensive.  They both seemed to have desired the position more for its title than the job itself.  Like Bush, Trump is surrounding himself with some knowledgeable people. We held our breath then to see what would happen.  I sense there is a collective breath holding now as we proceed into the next term.  Everyone reminds themselves that if he wants to be a two term president, he can’t mess up the first term.

We are certainly more divided than ever before.  The internet has not helped this but rather it has become a vehicle for others to widen that gap.  The art of dissent is lost with trolls.  Instead of having meaningful debate and discourse we are distracted and amused by spiteful and mean retorts on Twitter.  I could not help but notice how many lines of the inaugural address could fit in 140 characters.

Moved to do something, to take a risk and maybe facilitate improvements in reading and writing, I started this blog today.

I considered using this blog as a platform for my own dissenting opinions.  I don’t want to do that.  Instead, I will use this as a space to examine the language and structure of well-crafted disagreements.  I invite you to submit your own essays dissenting on ANY topic. There are only two requirements: they must be thoughtfully argued and under 500 words. I will not publish essays that are plagiarized, filled with unsubstantiated information, or just plain mean.