A year and a half a go after that November disaster my wife and I started some resistance. We joined the ACLU because we feared that people’s freedom would be at risk. We purchased subscriptions to our local paper and the New York Times because we felt we needed to support investigation and transparency. (We’ve since dropped the Times because I got so tired of the Hillary pile-ons and the false equivalency game I feel they play to get access.) I joined Daily Kos and agreed to pay an annual fee with the idea that I would write daily or at least weekly. I joined an Indivisible Group. I started calling my representative and senators frequently to voice my opinions on political matters. I made sure my wife and three children were registered to vote, encouraged them to vote, and educated them on every candidate down to the county clerk. I marched at the first women’s march. I contributed to some local candidates, and made sure I was part of the effort to get rid of our lousy Democratic County Chair and District Attorney here in Bexar County. And, I spend my evenings watching Rachel and Lawrence. At work, I have Stephanie Miller and Tom Hartman on the radio and every now and then I listen to Norman Goldman going home. I also listen to Pod Save America with some regularity. I love Twitter and used to avoid politics and just tweet about sports, but now I actively try to express resistance facts and news.
I will say though that I am slowing down. I don’t write a blog here on Kos regularly. I really thought I would, but I would say that I have not exited the depression I have fallen into as this nightmare drags on. I find it extremely difficult to interact with family, friends, and coworkers that I know voted for Trump, support Republicans, and believe the propaganda being put out by Russians, conservatives, and others. And, they believe it despite the facts that exist in front of their faces about the nature of what is going on. As an educator who has trained folks on how the brain learns, I know that a belief is the hardest thing to change. If a student believes they cannot do math, for example, it is extremely difficult to overcome that faulty logic. So, in some ways I understand how a person I consider very intelligent who was my coworker and friend for years can still look me in the eye and tell me Hillary is a criminal, but Donald Trump is great for America and that Russian collusion is just a made up story by Democrats and promoted by a “liberal” press. It’s because the groundwork for that false belief has been developed over decades of work by wealthy oligarchs through media, language, religion and domination of information pathways. I understand how it has happened. I can still see positive character traits in my friend and others like him, but it leaves me extremely depressed. And, as in his case, I have stopped interacting with him.
And I fight that depression every day. I have started working out regularly which helps. I get about an hour a day where I have to focus on my physical movements and conditioning which prevents me from perseverating on the depressing topics for a couple of hours. But it hangs over me the other hours I am awake like a proverbial dark cloud. While I write this I’m watching supposedly liberal MSNBC (Andrea Mitchell) and Manafort has just been jailed. How can this be interpreted as anything other than the “President” and his party are compromised by Putin and the Russians? Here is Podesta on as a guest. He is retelling the story of how the Republican platform was changed at the convention to a pro Russian slant in foreign policy. They are reviewing the IG report. The report that CNN this morning cherry picked to pull out the texts between two FBI agents other than clearly stating what the report concluded: Hillary Clinton was screwed by Comey, the FBI, the Russians, the press (I’m looking at you Andrea), and so many others. But in the end the true people screwed were the Democrats and Independents who voted for her and other down ballot Democratic candidates. Our voices, despite being in the majority, have been muted. Andrea repeats the meme of Hillary making a mistake by not going to Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Jesus, is there no one that they can have on that will vociferously challenge that opinion. Can’t Podesta summon some anger to fight back other than meekly stating it was a combination of factors? A foreign government and traditional enemy led by a dictator led a coordinated attack on you John to help your opponent. Get angry! Fight back! We just had the “President” walk around the White House and call for all of us to stand at attention when he speaks. It’s time to stop with the “Democrats screwed up theme.” I’m tired of getting thrown under the bus. I’m a Democrat. I supported Democrats financially and with my vote. I defended Democrats on social media. I didn’t screw up. The people who voted for Republicans and Trump did. The people who didn’t pay attention in history classes in high school and college did. The people who forgot what basic empathy is did. The people who don’t know what a real free market is did. The people who don’t know how their own government is organized and works did. The people who don’t understand immigration or how laws and regulation work did. The people who believe in racist and fascist ideals wrapped up in the Stars and Stripes and topped with a crucifix did. I am so sick of the point the finger of blame at Democrats crap.
Oh well, each day I get up and breathe. I love my wife, kids, dog, and my sports teams. I work out when I can, try to enjoy a nice meal, and hope the economy doesn’t collapse any time soon. Oh, and I hope, probably beyond hope, that we haven’t ruined the planet so much that we all die of heat stroke.
Peace out. Hope you have a good day.