Reconsidering Trump

A friend asked me why I haven’t been posting any writing recently. Though I have lots of reasons, I suspect that some of the main issues are my feelings of anger, discouragement and helplessness about the state of our country.

Last November at this time I was regularly writing about my outrage and confusion at Trump’s election. A year later I still can’t quite believe that our country is led by a man who is leads by deceit, intimidation and fear mongering. Of course, these strategies have been employed by politicians and others seeking power, money and sex for millenia. But our current President and his administration have taken them to new levels that threaten to undermine our capacity to hold meaningful conversations about what is actually happening around us.

Any news or report that Trump doesn’t like is labeled ‘fake news.’ Uncomfortable questions at news briefings are simply ignored or mocked. But, even worse for me is the acquiescence of the Republican Congress that appears to be more interested in scoring political points than in protecting us from the unpredictable and mendacious behavior of the President.

In reading accounts of the rise of McCarthy in the fifties, I never understood how one person could get away with a career of lies and malicious innuendos—why no one stood up to stop him. But now I see how individuals like McCarthy and Trump can utilize the dark currents of human greed, anger and ignorance to accumulate personal power and wealth.

Trump IS our President and he rides atop the dark currents of racism, sexism and economic oppression that have been as much a part of our American history as our democracy, equality under the law and respect for the individual.

How do we use this time in history to recognize and begin to heal the ancient wounds of our country? How do we use our privilege to stand for something more than comfort and division? How do we keep our hearts open AND act powerfully together to support the mutuality of our fragile web of life on this blue-green planet?

What shall we do?