I was on the couch on a sleepy Sunday, tuned in to a football game.

As I got up during a commercial break, Betsy called me back into the living room.

“You have to hear this,” she said. “It is the craziest thing ever.”

I rewound the commercial, a political ad for Ohio U.S. Senate candidate Mike Gibbons.

After I picked my jaw up from the ground, I rewound it one more time, so I could transcribe it for this column.

What the ad said:

“I believe in an America where we kneel in devotion, not disrespect. I’m Mike Gibbons. The socialist left, fake news and world corporations have one thing in common: They hate America and they hate our faith. They want our money and our minds to replace God and government. But the America I know kneels to no man. It takes gridiron grit to send these leftist losers back to the bench.”

Is this what we’ve come to? Pandering to a very specific crowd while taking pot shots at everyone else? Building on the us-vs.-them mentality while spewing venom looped with shots of Colin Kaepernick, Mark Zuckerberg and Nancy Pelosi? Hurting people like me who identify by faith yet know those words are far from Jesus-inspired?

I wasn’t born yesterday. I know mudslinging political ads are as old as political parties, and they’ve only been amplified by the power of mass communication and the current divisive political environment.

And I know that an ad like that will likely get its desired results. During a break in the action of America’s fall pastime, many will have been jolted by the ad, but, unlike my frustration, they will feel connection.

“Football fan? Hell, yeah. Fake news? Leftist losers? That’s exactly right,” many will say.

Those people will type Gibbons’ name into a search engine, see an expertly crafted website with a catchy logo, well-composed photos, and slickly written information. He’ll get votes as this bold ad provides separation from the sea of candidates in the Senate race — both from other Republicans and Democrats.

But what about the rest?

There are some — many, I hope — who are concerned about the direction our country is going, but know labeling the other side as “hating America” or as “leftist losers” isn’t the way out of this mess. We’re frustrated by what we’ve seen — both political sides doubling down on the other by volleying the most extreme tenants of their platform down our throat, constantly pushing the boundaries further.

Don’t think this doesn’t happen on all ends of the political spectrum.

It’s like politics is looking to condense each of us into manufactured tiny boxes that we do not come packaged in.

News guy? Fake news. Leftist loser.

Follower of Christ? Hateful right-wing nut.

Graduate of a public university? Indoctrinated.

From a small town? Closed-minded dolt.

Football fan? Likely to be moved by a rock throwing, say-nothing, 20-second spot.

We are all placed in those containers, and my belief is that I’m not the only one whose boxes are complicated, nuanced — in gray, rather than black and white, if you will.

My thoughts — and my vote — cannot be compacted into a 20-second soundbite.

Yet, in our structure, whomever delivers the most populist, most poignant soundbite often is the winner. The Tom Bradys of politics aren’t built with hard work, leadership, and preparation anymore. They’re built with taunting the opponent and sticking up both middle fingers to the fans of the other team.

Gibbons’ website contains very detailed and thought-out points on where he stands on various issues and what he would do if elected. Had I stumbled upon that site organically, I might have thought some of it even sounded good.

Yet none of that was important enough to place on his high-priced ad specifically targeted at the 1 p.m. Sunday NFL time slot.

Where on Earth is civility in politics?

Clearly, it’s nowhere to be found here.

Alpena native Jeremy Speer is the publisher three Ohio newspapers.