Now that he's the President-Elect, my blood pressure is almost as high as my tension level, and the fibromyalgia I've had for decades has kicked into high gear. I was awakened several times last night with hip and knee pain, and it was a tough job persuading myself to get out of bed this morning. It's time to get proactive about my health, even though it seems there isn't much I can do about the White House.
My blog post today comes to you from Dear Prudence, a.k.a. Mallory Ortberg, who writes the advice column for Slate. I hope it's okay to post an excerpt here, crediting both Ortberg (I mean Prudie!) and Slate. I have the feeling lots of us can use her advice right now.
Dear Prudence,
Do you have any advice for we who opposed a Trump presidency? Now that we fear seeing Roe v. Wade overturned, worsening climate change, hatred and bigotry stirred up? Discovering that our neighbors, colleagues, and acquaintances voted for this racist, xenophobic madman? How can we cope, and what can we do in our own small part to resist this? I for one feel gobsmacked. Do you have any suggestions for taking back our power? (Please don’t say, “Just give him a chance”—because we don’t want him to get a chance to implement all his vitriol.)
Do you have any advice for we who opposed a Trump presidency? Now that we fear seeing Roe v. Wade overturned, worsening climate change, hatred and bigotry stirred up? Discovering that our neighbors, colleagues, and acquaintances voted for this racist, xenophobic madman? How can we cope, and what can we do in our own small part to resist this? I for one feel gobsmacked. Do you have any suggestions for taking back our power? (Please don’t say, “Just give him a chance”—because we don’t want him to get a chance to implement all his vitriol.)
—How to Cope in the Post-Trump World
I do not think “give Donald Trump a chance” is a useful piece of advice, although plenty of people who ought to know better have suggested it over the last week. I think Donald Trump has had a more than adequate chance to demonstrate his values over the decades of his life as a public figure; we have all the information we need to make an informed assessment of his character. I think he did not initially disavow his endorsement by David Duke and other white nationalists because he did not wish to, because his very political existence depends upon their support, and to suggest otherwise is disingenuous. I think he chose a running mate who supports LGBT conversion therapy because he does not care about the safety or well-being of queer people, and I think he called for a national database of Muslim people because he doesn’t care about religious freedom and is happy to profit from Islamophobia. I think he mocked a disabled reporter because he doesn’t care about people with disabilities. I think he is exactly the person he has presented himself as. I think there is no reason to expect him to suddenly display restraint after being given presidential power.
As for what you can do as an individual right now, a few suggestions:
Donate whatever time or money you have available to organizations like the ACLU, the NAACP, Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Campaign Zero, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, the Trevor Project, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Contact your local mosque or Muslim Community Center and offer your services as a volunteer and tell them you support them. Contact your congressperson/representative/state legislators and offer specific calls to action, whether that be that they vote for or against a proposed legislation, whether you want them to sponsor a bill, or make a public statement. (In many locations, representative’s offices are required to read all physical mail; consider calling or writing an old-fashioned letter before sending an email.) Offer support to the people in your life whose safety and well-being are particularly threatened by this white nationalist wave. Challenge racism and obfuscation of motives when you see it (“I’m so economically anxious I had no choice but to vote for a misogynist bigot”); do not use euphemisms and gentler language for the sake of comity to describe the ugly things you know to be true.
7 comments:
We are exactly on the same page on this. I'm depressed and enraged and horrified. Each new news bite about his latest insane cabinet pick, his nepotistic plans to give his son-in-law a position of influence, people saying we should give him a chance, just makes smoke come out of my ears. My sister is so upset she won't read the news at all. I can't think of what to do except make some small donations to good places like those you mention and keep posting about how not normal his presidency is/will be.
Yup, "depressed and enraged and horrified" pretty well sums it up. And I agree: resist any movement to make this the new normal. Although his appearance on the political scene, his campaign, and his bizarre behavior broke new ground that I'm afraid will never be put back again to what we once considered normal.
Don't forget that you are all welcome to pack your bags and move to Canada, which recently regained its political sanity.
We found your blog a couple of years ago, when researching for Margaret Cameron Cobb. I am about finished and going to press with the book, where I have included your memories. Recently a niece of one of my women from Amerada sent me a lot of material, and one item is a cartoon drawing of all the employees who made Amerada happen, including Margaret. But I remembered you saying your father worked there and I wonder if he is in this cartoon? I would love to send you a copy of it. I am at rrgries@aol.com.
And, my post election gift from my dear husband was a substantial contribution to Planned Parenthood. I feel your pain! Robbie Gries
Oh dear, you have been absent for a long while now... is everything OK Susan?
Thank you for thinking of me, Helen. Actually, for the past couple of weeks I've been feeling better than I have in a long time. I think I hit on the right supplements. That's my theory, anyway. I've been composing a blog post in my head, and you've given me the motivation to get it written.
Looking forward to it!
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