{"id":15819,"date":"2025-10-15T08:22:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T12:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=15819"},"modified":"2025-10-15T08:28:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T12:28:21","slug":"the-progression-of-rivals-to-enemies-and-the-obstruction-of-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=15819","title":{"rendered":"the progression of rivals to enemies and the obstruction of peace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Coke vs. Pepsi<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nike vs. Adidas<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

India vs. Pakistan<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamilton vs. Burr<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yankees vs. Red Sox<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michigan vs. Ohio State<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple vs. Microsoft<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Athens vs. Sparta<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hatfield vs. McCoy<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s intensify it a bit\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Batman vs. Joker<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harry Potter vs. Voldemort<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loki vs. Thor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sherlock Holmes vs. Professor Moriarty<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But those have never been real. Let\u2019s intensify it a bit more\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

North vs. South Korea<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia vs. Ukraine<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irish Catholics vs. Anglo-Irish Protestants<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunni vs. Shia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cain vs. Abel<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And let\u2019s make it even more real\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats vs. Republicans<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dare we say briefly more this day? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pitting of the latter two rivals is often ugly and intense. My strong sense is that each is more successful when they focus on what they have in common, coming together to solve the problems that plague the country most. I believe, too, they serve the public poorly when they focus most on what\u2019s wrong with the other. They are less efficient, less integrous, and make fewer people want to be like them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan\u2019t we all just get along?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately and understandably, many don\u2019t believe such is possible ever again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while I may be an optimist, here’s where I differ. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

733 days. 1,195 originally murdered. 251 hostages. Reports estimate that in the conflict, over 92,000 people have since died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s be clear: Israel and Hamas don\u2019t believe the same thing. They aren\u2019t just rivals; they are enemies.<\/em> An enemy is marked by his hate. <\/em>And yet this week, two groups of people who hate each other agreed that they needed to find a better path. Their previously chosen paths were destructive and serving their constituents poorly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us thus state the current situation bluntly but clearly\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Israel and Hamas can find a way toward peace \u2014 two groups of people who often kill <\/em>because of disagreement \u2014 Democrats and Republicans can find a way, as well. These government shutdowns often seem silly \u2014 hurting people who don’t deserve it \u2014 and sadly, they most resemble exercises in mutual hypocrisy with the parties changing words and roles, contradicting what they said before pending who’s in power now. The parties would serve the public better if they would each be wiser. Sharpen each other. And quit blaming the other all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, we need peace here, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coke vs. Pepsi Nike vs. Adidas India vs. Pakistan Real Madrid vs. Barcelona Hamilton vs. Burr Yankees vs. Red Sox Michigan vs. Ohio State Apple vs. Microsoft Athens vs. Sparta Hatfield vs. McCoy Let\u2019s intensify it a bit\u2026 Batman vs. Joker Harry Potter vs. Voldemort Loki vs. Thor Sherlock Holmes vs. Professor Moriarty Luke Skywalker … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “the progression of rivals to enemies and the obstruction of peace”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15819"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15831,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15819\/revisions\/15831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}