Blue for Blues
I’m suffering from PTSD. It began with the unlikely election of Trump, which brought about an inability to trust polls and voting machines at risk of being hacked, and has been triggered nearly every day since. For two years I’ve been unable to appeal to logic in Trump’s supporters. I’ve watched the dismantling of Democratic foundations and relationships with U.S. allies, while enduring conspiracy theories being presented as news and living with Trumpian rhetoric, in which the press is characterized as the “enemy of the state,” Democrats are “evil” and protest is punished.
For two years I’ve felt depressed and unsafe, living in this ‘what’s next?” double-speak world where any one of us is more likely to be killed by a far right white nationalist than we are to be killed or raped by an immigrant (according to the Department of Justice). I feel worn down living under a president who expresses adulation for dictators and identifies as a “nationalist” who not only will not denounce neo-Nazis, but characterizes a parade of white men with torches shouting ‘Jews will not replace us’ as “a side” consisting of “good people.” I’ve been shaken to the core by a president who incites violence, threatens religious freedoms and civil rights, is an inarticulate master of propaganda who smears opponents, brags and takes credit where none is due and lies without accountability. Not only has he made 1,318 false or misleading claims, an average of five a day in the first 9 months of his presidency, in the seven weeks leading up the midterm elections, he made 1,419 false or misleading claims — an average of 30 a day. Fact checkers keep track.
It’s taken a toll. And now we have the chance to move the checks-and-balance needle by voting Democrat tomorrow. This is not a partisan appeal but a call to voices of reason. Please vote.
__________Our World Tuesday
November 5th, 2018 2:15 pm
Hi Colleen,
So sorry to hear about your PTSD. Your response which is now a nearly universal response to the Trump fascist takeover is distressing. I hope you continue to find solace and comfort in your family, community, poetry and activism. There is an Australian TV show that is very funny and dark that in the last season addresses the same issues of the bleak side of humanity called Rake. It has helped me put things into perspective. And great concert going, visits to art galleries, watching young adults playing, singing and dancing collectively on the local college campus and good food has helped me get out of the doldrums. But you know all this. Take heart in the fact that nothing is forever. Good luck in your state tomorrow. I have a sense there will be some hopeful news. All the best, Joanna
November 5th, 2018 3:24 pm
Thanks, Joanna. I have gone in and out of the darkness of it, but I think it’s come to the forefront because of the upcoming election. Dancing to reggae over the weekend helped but the Marley lyrics made me want to cry. I hope I will feel better soon!
November 5th, 2018 7:22 pm
Oh ~ Colleen ~ sending you lots of healing energy hugs ~ It is a very distressing time with our incompetent leader ~ yes will vote and hope ‘he’ loses much power and goes away soon!
Happy Day to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
November 5th, 2018 9:00 pm
Amen.
November 6th, 2018 9:00 am
I am a Brit but married to an American who like you has had a really tough time dealing with the Trump election and the rise of such appealing hate. We are both quietly hopeful that today will see the beginning of a change back towards something much better but we also realistic that he and the GOP are not going to give up easily and their is a real chance that Trump will be prepared to declare marshal law in order to stay in power
Mollyx
November 6th, 2018 1:19 pm
I’m with you Colleen. So are many people whom I know, fortunately. Let’s hope that we have a lot of positive results today. Big hugs, we’ve got this. We always do, regardless of who pretends to be our leaders.
November 12th, 2018 6:33 pm
It could have been better news — I was hoping for a complete blue wave. But it could have been worse — his followers are absolutely irrational. Frightening. Every day you think his behavior couldn’t get worse and every day it does. You aren’t alone in suffering symptons of PTSD… it’s actually the only sane way to feel at this point. Thanks for doing something by posting this . Before the election, i had an impassioned msg from my sister urging me to do a similar blog post and I hope she is still speaking to me because i just couldn’t do it. (Time, energy, lack of talent for expressing myself well, the feeling I’d only be preaching to the choir anyway…. or all of the above).