Wednesday, January 18, 2017

What to Do

I make no secret of my politics. I am a liberal, a progressive, a Democrat. I voted for Hillary Clinton and was devastated when she lost. And I was angry that Donald Trump won.

As the day of Trump's inauguration approached, I felt more and more restless. I felt like I should be doing something, fighting somehow, resisting. 

I have read many editorials on line from The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New Yorker, hearing many voices that I respect. They warn of not "normalizing" Trump.  I have followed the news through mainstream media, debated on Facebook, and even kept up with some of the "tweets". I have been informed by his close adviser, Kellyanne Conway, that we "should not take Donald Trump at face value". We should wait to see what he will do. 

Now we are just a day away from turning over the presidency to a man I cannot  trust or respect. 

I thought about joining a protest march. I looked into the logistics of the Womxns March in Seattle, but lack of access to public transportation would result in a nightmare of traffic and parking problems. I decided to leave marching to others.

When Trump was first elected, I joined others in wearing a safety pin on my jacket, a message of "you are safe with me". Then I read on Facebook that I was a "crybaby wearing a diaper pin", a sore loser, a snowflake needing a safe place, that I should "just get over it, you lost."  Those were the nicer labels. 

Some say I am not supposed to be angry. I should have hope. Others say I need to give the new president a chance. But nothing I have seen so far gives me hope or stills my anger or leads me to expect that Trump will suddenly be something he is not. And yet, I can't hope he fails, because that means our country fails. 

Many people I know and respect are going to boycott the inauguration ceremonies. "Don't watch him, don't listen to him,  don't give him the audience he thrives on. "

Friday morning I will be with like minded friends at our usual Friday morning breakfast. There is a TV right by our table. I can watch if I want to.  Most likely I will watch some of the proceedings, because I like to have first hand information. I want to form my own impressions and not rely on analysts and pundits. I am also recording it at home, in case I want to listen to Trump's speech. 

Others I am with will not want to watch and will turn away and talk over the TV. That's all OK. Maybe being with friends is the right way to lighten up a morning I have been dreading. 

I still don't know what I should do. Maybe I'll find out by just living my life. 


18 comments:

  1. This man has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. No, I am not a doctor and cannot diagnose, but I have a very good gut instinct. The danger is all those behind and beside him who know how to manipulate people with this type of disorder. His quickness to anger and then be so kind is scary. The best example I have is how our former President handles him with kid gloves. He knows calling him out on his lies by name will not do well for this country. This is NOT about conservativeism and liberalism which are reasonable sides of an issue. This is a totally different ball of melting wax and we are standing on it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would say to Kelly Ann that we have seen what he does in his selection of cabinet appointees. I conclude that there is actually nothing beneath the face value/surface. What we see is what we get and many people found that appealing.
    I will take care of myself by speaking out, taking action for what I believe in, and praying in my meditative, Buddhist-like way.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I will also not be watching. I will, however, watch the PBS News Hour and Washington Week in the evening, even though I know it will have plenty of him in there. I will truly miss the gentle couple who has inhabited the White House for eight years. I'm with you, Linda. Hard times ahead. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Since the election I've seen nothing that would lead me believe Trump is going to get out of his nasty campaign mode and be a half way normal president which I'd settle for at this point. It's going to be a long four years if he makes it that long before he gets impeached. I don't think we can sit by and normalize this man's behavior!

    It gets me who his fans call liberal so many names and tell us to get over it, we lost. Were they not listening when Trump spent years promoting the ridiculous birther conspiracy theory? I still haven't decided if I'm going to watch the doings this weekend but if I do I'll do it on CNN since that's Trump most recent target to try to put out of business.

    ReplyDelete
  5. For some reason I feel compelled to bear witness to this inauguration. I don't want to, I want to turn my back on him, but I do believe perhaps it is more important than ever that we stand up for the Office, however vile the human being is that has been honoured with it. I wish you all well -- I suspect the story is nowhere near played out...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I won't be watching. Hope the ratings are low. So sorry some trashed you for your pin and your kindness. I have one too and am trying to be change I would like to see in the world.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I will be watching. President Elect Trump is not perfect, who is? We have to all pull together for the good of the country, those of us on the conservative side have suffered through eight Obama years...I am hopeful for a better America back at work with health Ins they can afford. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm considering posting to my blog the late night/early morning tweets of Donald Trump. Most of my acquaintances do not use Twitter and therefore miss his favorite means of communication. I'll help him by passing them on. I find it exceedingly frustrating I cannot communicate that, for me, this is not a Democrat/Republican issue. This is about putting a seriously mentally ill man in the highest office in the land. Because I have such high respect for the office I can hardly bear to see this happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda, we are not allowed to make a medical determination on the state of mind of the president-elect. From our observations we can tell that there is something seriously wrong with him, but in spite of that, even knowing that, he has been embraced by people who call themselves Republicans. Republicans put him in power and are now working to do his bidding. Sure, not all, and many who did vote for him did so because they thought they were voting for "the lesser of two evils". Little did they know.

      Delete
  9. If I were to suggest what to do, it would be to try and understand why he won. Why did over 60 million Americans choose him over Mrs. Clinton?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have done extensive reading on the "why" of how Trump was elected. I have had debates with Trump voters. I get it, and I also know that many of them voted against their own self interests, believed lies, refused to accept factual information, and want things the way they were in the good old days. Many of those jobs are not coming back. Brown people do live here now and are becoming citizens. And on and on. Our hope is in new ways of thinking, not hanging on to the old.

      Delete
  10. I voted for Trump, but will probably just work on my woodworking projects tomorrow. I don't put any stock in presidents to solve my problems. My whole life has been lived under the imperial presidency that we've allowed to develop, yet I continue on, and basically very little changes in government. In my opinion, the inauguration should be a simple 15 minute swearing-in under the capitol rotunda, skip the speeches, choirs, entertainers, all of it. Just theater, all it is. Put your stock in your own life, your values, your accomplishments, however small they seem. We would be happier and more productive people. Phil/Minnesota

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think Linda H has hit the nail on the head for me: It's not a Republican or Democrat issue. Trump is NUTS. How did he get enough people to believe in him that he's now almost President? What an insult to President Obama that his highly classy, intelligent, tactful eight years are being followed by a buffoon. Makes me ill, and it makes me lie awake at night.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I will not be watching. Why poor salt into an open wound? I will give him a chance since we have no choice but I will keep my protest finger on his pulse and be ready to be heard if he goes where we fear.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Trump has opened up a wide division in your country. It's very sad. Unification would be a much more positive way to go. I like it that you will record the speech in case you miss something you can go back and listen.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh Linda... Thank you for voicing what I feel for me because I just can't bear to write about it. I'm going to ignore the whole inauguration and concentrate on just finishing my projects and living my life as happily as I can. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for our country and the damage that could be done. I'll be hoping we have enough checks and balances in place. I'm just hoping...

    ReplyDelete

I would love to read your comments. Since I link most posts to Facebook, you may comment there if you do not have an account. I have eliminated Anonymous comments due to spammers.