For those that have never heard the expression (or the Police song), it refers to a practice (or maybe a legend) that miners used to take Canaries down into the coal mines. Canaries are suppose to need more oxygen than humans, so if the canary died, the humans should evacuate toot sweet!
It has, since then, taken on a larger meaning to express the warning indicators that something is wrong.
For many on the right, the election of Hillary Clinton is the Canary in the Coal Mine that the country is permanently headed towards a liberal set of values where they think they have no place. For many on the left, the election of Donald Trump is the Canary in the Coal Mine that authoritarianism is upon us and Republicans will destroy our country, our values and the economy.
For me, this election in total is more of a Canary in the Cola Mine moment about our country. We have devolved to the point where we can't have a reasonable discussion anymore. That is, I can't talk to a Republican who supports Trump about where the country is going and our problems. I mean, if we could actually talk, then we have a surprising amount in common. If we could talk, we might even agree on some solutions.
But the partisan atmosphere has frozen us so much, we can't even talk anymore. We yell at each other in real life. We wall ourselves off in our social interactions. Out news shows can't agree on an actual truth. I blame them and they blame me.
I am smart as hell and I don't have any idea how to fix this.