Are We Playing Into Trump’s Hands?
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I’m sitting here reading an article in the “Times” and it occurred to me that the article could have easily been written about me, or possibly any one of us who have developed an intense dislike for our current president.
Thinking about it a bit I must admit I have lost my “cool” probably 3 or 4 times a day at the mere mention of Donald Trump or anything he is or is not doing. As I think about how he affects me actually makes me angrier because I firmly believe that when I allow someone to get me really angry I am actually giving them power over me.
So, I went back and read the article again. The article, which is an opinion piece by Frank Bruni of the New York Times, seems to have been prompted by Robert DeNiro and Samantha Bee’s profanity-laced rants and he makes a number of good points.
I get that you’re angry. I’m angry, too. But anger isn’t a strategy. Sometimes it’s a trap. When you find yourself spewing four-letter words, you’ve fallen into it. You’ve chosen cheap theatrics over the long game, catharsis over cunning. You think you’re raising your fist when you’re really raising a white flag.
You’re right that Donald Trump is a dangerous and deeply offensive man, and that restraining and containing him is urgent business. You’re wrong about how to go about doing that, or at least you’re letting your emotions get the better of you.
When you answer name-calling with name-calling and tantrums with tantrums, you’re not resisting him. You’re mirroring him. You’re not diminishing him. You’re demeaning yourselves. Many voters don’t hear your arguments or the facts, which are on your side. They just wince at the din.
I have worked for many years on not giving in to my temper and to remaining objective about things. Because as a younger person I was always a very angry person I wore out 3 or 4 shrinks and many a bottle of Johnny Walker trying to maintain a cool, calm demeanor.
Nothing seemed to work until I met a particular shrink at the VA hospital in Tuscaloosa, AL. She was the first one that to time to actually listen to me before reaching for her prescription pad. Thanks to her I was able to get a fairly good grasp on my anger. Then along comes Donald Trump and screws everything up.
Trump was nothing new to me. I had come to know about him when he bankrupted the big casino in Atlantic City. One of my Marine buddies was a subcontractor on that project and was one of those that Trump refused to pay. This guy lost his family business because he could not wait out the court process and ended up working for someone else. So my anger at him already had a running start before he ran for president. This just added to it and had really taken me out of my comfort zone.
So, anyway, Bruni may have a point, and if I can get back to where I am not angry every waking minute of every day, it may help my blood pressure as well. I can sure try to write about the evil this orange head is about without getting angry.
I will just spend more time trying to figure out how to get even with him for all the misery he has caused. I know they won’t let me within 300 yards of him with my old Marine Corps rifle, and it is unlikely that I can catch him alone in a dark alley, so I will just have to figure out a way to beat him at the ballot box. No more name calling. Just pointing out the facts of every mistake he ever makes.
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Spot on. Don’t stay angry, get even….at the ballot box
I understand Rachel . But it could be worse. You could be trying to toleratell Fox news every day. 🙂
Every day since the election I woke up depressed and the I stopped watching MSNBC and CNN. It’s better. Not best, as in Be Best, but better.
Hope your birthday went well Jess.
It did thank you Holte.
Well said Bill. It’s hard not to get mad at the enemies of a civilized society. Get angry, then get over it. Quickly.
I recently wrote a passage to a former student on Facebook trying to put America in perspective with the world. We are yet such a young nation and have so much to learn as a nation. Yes, we are large and powerful but we have not learned as a society and culture how to be great yet. Most countries, particularly those of Europe, have spent a thousand years or more learning the process of being civilized nations. Most have lived through numerous wars in their streets and their yards. America, as a nation, has not learned the most basic lesson of all to become a great nation. Before one can become great they must first learn to be humble in order to appreciate greatness when it arrives. As a nation and a people we have cast aside all humility and humbleness and have tried going straight to being great and exceptional. Because of that we are neither great nor exceptional. Donald Trump and his supporters is showing us just how far we have yet to go.
I’ll stay angry for now because it motivates me to get out there and help people register to vote. I’ll stay angry because I just found out that it’s his bday today and guess who else has a bday today hmm, ayup me… it’s my fucking bday and I have to share it with that waste of space.
Happy B-day Jess!!
Thanks Mike. Got my first gift of the day, 37 flowers with a tiny tiny amount of forget me nots in the bouquet from my inlaws. My husband would give me a flower for every year and my inlaws have decided to keep up the tradition and it isn’t even 8 o’clock yet. Will be a very good day today 🙂
How thoughtful of your in-laws. A gift to you and a tribute to your late husband. I hope you have the best day ever my young friend.
Happy, Happy Jess
Thanks Bill.
Happy birthday xxx
Thank you Neil.
Hate to sound like a dittohead, but ditto. A majority of my Trump-hater friends seem to think that screaming and yelling and making nasty jokes is an accomplishment as though the world really gives a damn about how angry we are. It doesn’t. I try to take a lesson from the alligators – you catch more by lying very low and silent and waiting. Yes, it may be a long wait and it may even be too late, but he will be dragged under and into the muck and slime of history. Yes, we’re going to have to endure a lot of social injustice, but we’ve had centuries of it and we’re still here.
“I now just accept it is what it is and acknowledge that unless the American people who support Dips*it Donnie come to their senses we will be stuck with the Orange Hair Orangutan for 6+ more years.”
And I’m afraid you’re right.
I hear ya Bill, it is easy, VERY easy to get angry with DJT. Almost all the time. I’ve had to step back and focus on the fact I cannot control Donnie or the jackassery he so frequently displays for all the world to see. So, realizing it is out of my control (except my vote and voice) I now just accept it is what it is and acknowledge that unless the American people who support Dips*it Donnie come to their senses we will be stuck with the Orange Hair Orangutan for 6+ more years.