Hi Y'all. I'm Tess from North Carolina
I am happy to find your site and become a DU member. It's refreshing to discover other folks who have similar viewpoints but also tolerate different opinions. Republicans have so gerrymandered and suppressed in my state that I begin to wonder if it will ever end.
The beginning of "Election 2016" brought many questions. After forcing myself to watch every Republican Primary debate, I was further appalled when Donald began to rack up wins. What was I missing? So I took a drastic step for a "news junkie". I cut cable & internet news cold turkey. I relied on network news only. OMG! My husband threatened intervention if I continued ranting while watching. Needless to relate, my short-lived experiment ended with a glut of internet news sites. Network & MSM news drain my soul of hope for reasonable discourse. Network news is all some people watch.
I think one problem we face is wading through the noise of careless hate becoming normal. There is a heuristic phenomenon called "anchoring". So let's suppose somebody puts a number in your head and, after a while, it looks plausible. This is how our minds work. We hear something strange or wrong then try to make sense of it. Trying to make sense of it makes us more prone to believe it. Anchoring is a very powerful suggestion. Being anchored is something worth resisting.
Thank you Democratic Underground members for giving me a space to relax and be myself without anchors. 
= new reply since forum marked as read
My family goes back 7 generations in NC.
But I'm a Florida native.
Sunshine State is on the cusp of diversity. Such an evolution of democracy in the US. An exciting but turbulent time. Thanks for the welcome.