Take Care of Yourself

 

I’m writing this as the clown-car that is the Orange Guy’s cabinet takes shape. There’s a fair amount of crazy there, and it’s enough to wig you out: a Rusky operative at NIA, a sneering 30-something pedophile as AG, a fire-breathing fascist imbecile at Defense, a brain-damaged vaccine skeptic at HHS.  

If you propose to not just survive all this, but to actually overturn it, the first thing you have to understand is: the entire point here is to wig you out. The only product this sleazeball sells is outrage, panic, and fear.

Don’t buy any.

Calm down, tell him to take a long walk off a short pier and take his menagerie of ass-kissing monkeys with him. I’m with John Fetterman on this…it’s hot air and bullshit and the man thrives on it. Never give him what he wants.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4993404-fetterman-tells-fellow-dems-to-chill-on-trump-he-hasnt-even-been-inaugurated-yet/

As I have noted before, the challenge in front of all of us is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to have gas in the tank in 2028. Giving in to your fear is giving in to the asshole about to soil the White House for a second time. Surely you don’t want to do that.

If you want to win this fight, you have to focus on school board and local elections in 2025, and on the mid-terms in 2026. Any anger and terror this turdknocker can engender in you is a distraction from that focus, and as dim a bulb as he is, he certainly knows that and he’s counting on it! Deny him that advantage. Great prizefighters (Muhammad Ali comes to mind) will tell you that rage and fear contribute to poor decision making and mistakes. Calm, perceptive focus and determination wins fights. Let the Orange Guy and his peeps get mad and stay mad…rage is a weakness and gives us all an advantage if we can meet it rationally.

Another point to make you feel a little better.  Boot-licking slow-leaks chosen for their outrageousness and their mindless loyalty are the actual definition of bad managers. Big federal agencies are complicated machines. They will likely fuck up everything they touch. If you remember this asshole’s first cabinet, the shelf life was 6 months to a year for most of them. They’re going to do a lot of mean shitty things, but they won’t do any of them very well because they’re not real deep thinkers. If you happen to live in a state with a blue governor and/or legislature, a lot of the crap they want to do to us won’t get very far and all of it will play very poorly in public everywhere.

Frankly, I would be a lot more worried if he had chosen arch-conservative but quiet and competent people.  But of course, he can’t do that. Those kinds of people will quickly see through the bullshit and correctly identify him for what he is.  Trump is a prisoner of his own failings.

So how do you remain calm and focused in the face of years of crazy? Here’s a few pieces of advice, many of them hard-won in recovery:

•          Develop healthy and positive daily routines, and stick with them. Keep it simple. The mundane is your friend. Be physically and mentally healthy and balanced. Attend church if that’s your thing, meditate, work out, eat well and don’t drink too much. Pay attention to your family and friends first. Spend time in nature and in your community. Be creative and curious. Keep a firm divide between what brings you joy and happiness and the many, many tasks necessary to repair our broken country. If truly hard times come (an economic collapse, a war, real violence or attempts at repression) the people who do well will be the people who retain their sanity, their calm, their determination, and their humanity. Attend to it.
• Stay informed every day, but don’t obsess with the news. A little dose in the morning and evening are enough to keep you informed. Talking heads (me for example), even the smartest ones, are all just speculating. Form your own opinions based on actual events.
• Get involved and stay involved in the work of repairing and strengthening our civic infrastructure, but do so in regular, measured doses. You’re going to hear from me roughly once a week, and I’m also spending some time with other like-minded people strategizing and volunteering.  But I’m also being very intentional and careful to attend to my professional and my private life. Manage your time and stay in it for the long haul.
• Remember my admonition to find community! Big tasks are best accomplished by sharing the work. You don’t have to do everything, just do something.

The task in front of us is a mountain. The way up is simply one foot in front of another. Hug your loved ones. Take care of yourself.  Keep punching.

Finding Community

 

11/12/24

I had my biweekly heart-to-heart with my shrink today, and certainly the election has done wonders for his job security!

He’s a smart guy, a PhD, and knows a lot about human neurobiology and behavioral science. He pointed out that anxiety and depression is rooted in fear, and that in general we fear two things. We obviously fear getting killed or maimed (real concerns with a professional criminal running the government), but we are at least as afraid of being isolated. Our adaptations are group adaptations, our reliance on and facility with social connections are what makes us the most successful organism to evolve on this planet. We all need our peeps to feel secure and to accomplish anything big.

In other words, he confirmed my first suggestion for effective resistance to fascism: band together. Find your people, introduce yourself, and put your shoulder to the wheel. Everyone has some talent, experience, and time they can offer. This will confirm that you’re not alone, and it will make you formidable (plus you’ll meet a lot of cool folks, and that can’t be bad).

Below are a couple places to get started. Notice I’m sticking with just a couple. That’s because, on Googling “Progressive Non-Profits” a list two miles long came up. They’re probably ALL worth investigating, and you should find your community where you can. That said, I’m focusing on a few that I know and that do important work. Since I’m here in Central PA, I’m linking to my local branches, but these are national organizations with local chapters everywhere. Find yours and go to a gathering.

PS: These aren’t legal defense organizations. They’re important too, and we’ll get to them, but first build a community.

PPS: If you’re reading this on social media, the links will be in the comments section.

 

Indivisible.org: “We’re a grassroots movement of thousands of local Indivisible groups with a mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda.” Formed by mostly former legislative staffers in the wake of the 2016 election, they’re smart and effective. There’s local chapters everywhere.

https://indivisible.org/

The Central PA affiliates include Cumberland Valley Rising

https://cumberlandvalleyrising.org/

And Capital Region Stands Up

https://pastandsup.org/capital-region/

The Democratic Party: Needs no introduction, and if you’re not pissed off at them at the moment, there’s probably something wrong with you. That said, while we sorely need more options in this country than two parties, the reality is this is what we have. In my opinion, this is not the time to bury the donkey and go third party. We all have to make up our own minds, but that’s where I came down. The party needs fresh blood and it needs fixin…help fix it!

https://democrats.org/

My own county committee is based in Carlisle and there are smaller offshoots in many communities (check social media).  I’ve also linked to the Dauphin County and the State Chapter. 

https://cumberlandcountydems.com/

https://www.dauphindems.com/

https://www.padems.org/

Common Defense:  “The largest grassroots membership organization of progressive veterans standing up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence.” If you’re a vet, please take a look at these folks!

https://commondefense.us/

There’s a million more, but that’s enough for now. Find your community and band together!

About Last Tuesday

 

11/10/24

And So It Begins

About last Tuesday…

You done bawling yet?

Good. That’s better.

Interestingly, I’ve had the same reaction I did in 2016.

We have just managed to elect a life-long white-collar criminal to the only job in the country where our not-too-Supreme Court has recently ruled it’s next to impossible for him to be charged with any crimes.  As this is his only detectable job skill, I would quite sensibly expect lots of crimes.

So, for a couple nights, I lay awake worrying about what the incoming band of shitheels is going to do to me, my friends, and my family. For the last couple nights however, I’ve been lying awake thinking about what I’m going to do to them. It is not in my nature to curl up and bawl. I’m less surly than I used to be (thank God), but I’m still plenty combative.

I’m going to quit worrying about the assholes. They need to worry about me.

Now this is a marathon, not a sprint, so I’m not spilling my guts at the moment, but let me put the first few markers and bits of advice out there now. I’ll return to them in some detail in later installments. It seems to me that the topical outline includes at least the following:

-         Make common cause with like-minded people. Join. Share the work and the resources. This includes many nonprofits, informal community organizations, issue specific organizations, and yes, political parties. Trust me, half the people in this country didn’t vote for fascists, and you’re not alone.

-         Take care of yourself and your people first. Again, a marathon, not a sprint. Nobody can or should do everything, but everybody can do something.

-         The exit polls from last week are a gold mine of data about the demographics and economics of who voted for who and who didn’t. Take the time to understand the data.

-         All successful political movements start at the municipal level. School Board, municipal, and county elections are next year. The Tea Party and MAGA movements started at the municipal and school board level, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

-         This is a real fight with real consequences. The people who win fights respect and understand their opponents’ strengths and advantages, steal their good ideas, and ruthlessly exploit their weaknesses.

-         There is a big difference between low-information people who were struggling financially and voted their pocketbooks last week, and real true believers. The former group can change their minds, the latter cannot. Save your anger for the red hat crowd, don’t piss off potential allies.

-         Early analyses of last week’s cluster are all over the place and mostly overheated, but they all agree that while economics, culture war issues (and basic old-fashioned bigotry/misogyny) were real drivers for certain blocks of voters, propaganda, messaging, and education were central to the results. The less factual information people absorbed, the more likely they were to vote for a criminal. When your opponent does something dumb, mean, or shitty, or you do something good, smart, and positive, EVERYBODY NEEDS TO HEAR ABOUT IT!

-         The way to convert people to your way of thinking is to be kind to them first, before you ask them for anything. In the words of someone dear to me: “Life is so much easier when you’re not an asshole”

-         Money counts, not as much as messaging, education, and outreach, but it counts. Help raise money where it’s needed. Do what you can to choke off money from businesses and organizations that support or promote fascists.

-         Make sure your legislators hear from you! The only thing they’re afraid of are voters. Letters and emails do get read. So do letters to the editor.

-         Defend the press (even if they piss you off) and the ballot box at all costs. I assure you, the fascists will be attacking every semblance of independent expression they can and also going after the franchise. It’s a common historical tactic of all wannabe authoritarian regimes. Buy subscriptions, donate to PBS, raise hell, make a scene. We have a pretty trustworthy election system, and an active press (that needs to get better). The value of these assets is demonstrated by the hatred MAGA nation has for them. Without both, we’re lost for a long time.

-         Litigation also counts. Support the ACLU and other legal defense nonprofits. Given that the federal judiciary gets more fascist all the time, you can expect to lose most cases, but cases take time, and time is your friend.

All for now, I’ll have more to say about these topics over the coming weeks.

In the interim, don’t lie down, punch back.