The Trump Effect

I don’t know how your life has been effected since Trump came along. Before the election of 2016, I didn’t really know much about him. I don’t follow the rich and famous because I find them boring. For me, rich is meaningless. particularly as a reason to be popular. Give me character any day as a reason to pay attention to someone.

I never supported Trump. I didn’t even have to know what his policies were for me not to like him. Here are my reasons:

1. He was unkind, even abusive in his rhetoric. My first introduction to him before he ran for office was a scene from The Apprentice in which he shamed a woman who failed to win whatever it was she was competing for. It was awful and it felt crushing to watch. There was nothing he could do after that to redeem himself.
2. He was dishonest. There are many excuses for not telling the truth. Among these are…just joking…not having all the facts…everybody does it…trying to achieve a good end…it is just a little white lie…not hurting anybody. None of these hold any water with me.
3. He was paranoid. He couldn’t seem to handle anyone disagreeing with him – anyone!. You were either 100% with him or !00% against him. Worse, those against him he treated as enemies and set out to destroy them.
4. He was known to screw people for his own benefit. He claimed to be a great business man, but there was a trail of money he owed to contractors and workers that somehow managed to stay out of the headlines during the election process.
5. He was sleezy. People who supported him didn’t seem to mind his treatment of women, even how he talked about them, but I did. He made me squirm. I thought that I would never allow him to be around my granddaughters if given the opportunity.

   No matter what I thought or felt, Trump became our president and served his four years. I don’t agree with all of what Biden is doing but he isn’t any of the above and that helps me to relax.

If we could say goodbye to Trump and move on, that would be great, but it isn’t happening. I am not talking about his control over his a party or anything like that. I am talking about the effect he has had on us, all of us. I don’t know about you, but I am struggling to remember how much I liked certain people before Trump came along. At one time it didn’t concern me whether a person was a conservative or liberal. There are definite political differences in my family, but we don’t allow these differences to get in the way of relationships. Don’t get me wrong. There was a time when our family was indeed nasty when it came to politics. There were some heated arguments. But over time it became apparent that we needed to make a choice to either let go and allow others to believe differently or to ruin the family. We chose love and respect. What little discussion there is about politics today, family members choose respect over trying to prove they are rights. Unfortunately, not all families have managed to find this level of acceptance.

Families are not the only communities impacted by this negative spirit of which I speak. A change has come over the country. Political parties don’t just disagree -there is genuine hatred between people. People are being threatened. Some have been physically harmed. The attack on the Capital Building on January 6 is one thing, but the continued threats to the members of congress and their families and the concerted effort to “punish” those who don’t agree is sick. I am seeing in the political world, national and state, all of the above traits of our former president. He left behind a poison and we are all effected by it.

I am genuinely worried about the families, neighborhoods, our country and the world at large. This spiral downward feels evil. I fear more people suffering, even being killed. To me there is only one answer: Jesus preached love, love with NO EXCEPTION! Remember “Love thy enemy”? Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King taught us how to disagree without violence. All of the major religions preach the Golden Rule as a guide to living in this world where others are different from ourselves.

It seems over-simplistic: LOVE. I remember the words of a song, “Love isn’t Love until you give it away” Love as an idea is worthless. We each need to grab hold of it and figure out how to apply it. Change our thinking. Stop the judgment,  Act kindly. Don’t just avoid abuse, but avoid abusive language. Don’t gossip. Don’t hold grudges. Show gratitude. Help those who are different from us.

As for political news, I now avoid listening to angry and judgmental rhetoric even by those who hold the same political position as you do. There are liberal news shows I no longer watch, not because I disagree with what is being reported, but because of the cynicism, sarcasm, and judgment in the voices of the hosts. I find they have the power to increase my anxiety level and throw me into a fearful stance.

I hope and pray we pull out of this dark place. I am working on it.