sonora2sonoma

Call it trump fatigue, impeachment anxiety, existential terror or all three at once. Whatever it is, I’m feeling it. And my usual means of dealing with things that aren’t going well isn’t working anymore, because this sense of malaise is unlike anything I’ve experienced. And, judging by various signals from multiple sources, I’m not alone.

Trying to make sense of it all, here’s where I’ve gotten so far:

Based on what I can see, it comes down to this: what to some is an impeachable act is to others a “perfect phone call.” And no amount of persuading appears capable of breaching that divide, no matter how unambiguous the circumstances nor clear the reasoning—the president is guilty as hell and yet, at the same time, completely innocent. One would assume that the facts would speak for themselves; were it not for the proliferation of “alternative facts” asserted by the president’s defenders, that would be a reasonable assumption. But reason departed the station shortly after the president’s inaugural spectacle, the scale of which surpassed anything he’d imagined before, and what remains is a landscape in which baseless assertions assume relevance via sheer repetition while actual, empirical evidence is derided as nothing more than the product of “deep state” conspiracy-minded trump-haters bent on overturning the 2016 election. Meanwhile, with no sense of irony, trump routinely accuses others of misdeeds that bear a striking resemblance to things of which he himself is suspect. But rest assured—Mitch McConnell has announced that the impeachment-that-shouldn’t-be-an-impeachment will receive a speedy trial- that-won’t-be-a-trial in the senate.

“It can feel, especially lately,” writes Rex Huppke in the Chicago ‘tribune, “as if reality has been bent sideways and backward, like facts are meaningless and, quite frankly, like many of us are losing our minds.”

“What’s going on in the government is so extreme, that people who have no history of overwhelming psychological trauma still feel crazed by this, said Stephanie Engel, a psychiatrist in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“It’s a psychic tax on the population, who must parse an avalanche of untruths to understand current events,” notes Michelle Goldberg in the NYT.

Up, it seems, has become down, wrong is now right and chaos rules the day. I cannot begin to imagine how this must play out at the George/Kelly Anne Conway dinner table, but that scenario at least reassures me that, as crazy as this has all become, and I mean REALLY CRAZY, it could be worse!

When confronted with such madness, what is one supposed to do?

My initial response, weary as I am of the onslaught of disconnected-from-reality drivel virtually oozing from the pores of all but the meager handful of Republicans who still exhibit evidence of being actual members of the vertebrate class, is to unplug the tv, radio and computer and seek any distractions I can find to assuage my existential terror. But that would be as damaging to the republic as the apathy of those too busy to bother themselves with all this “partisan BS,” as many have apparently chosen to do. The fall of the Roman Empire is instructive in this regard: Its lesson–non-participation, for whatever reason, will accomplish one thing only—the furtherance of the status quo, which in this instance is the trump regime. And that is unacceptable, by any conceivable standard.

So, what to do when tuning out becomes ruled out as a matter of conscience?

When “up is down, dogs are cats (and) the world is flat as a pancake,” to borrow again from Rex Huppke of the Chicago Tribune, “you are not losing your mind. Hold fast to the truth. The disinformation and dishonesty of Trump and his mendacious lemmings isn’t your burden. It’s theirs. And the weight of it, as sure as up is up, will inevitably pull them down.”

“When something terrible happens, our natural reaction is to fight against it,” said Robin Chancer, writing in the blog ‘Politics Means Politics’ in 2017. “Fighting won’t change it,” Chancer adds. “Rather than paralyzing ourselves with shock and outrage, we are better served by accepting what happened, allowing it to change us, and working with what is left.”

Admittedly the kind of acceptance Chancer espouses may put us into “a state of grief as we come to terms with hard realities. If so, allow time to feel and honor it.”

Of crucial importance, says Chancer, “Don’t allow (trump’s) Tweets to play over and over in your mind. If you read them, register them as insane, and move on to the next moment. Even better, pay little attention to his stunts. Don’t waste your energy getting riled up. Once we fully accept that Trump does evil, unhinged things (strategic lying, degrading/exploiting people) because he is evil and unhinged, we can get beyond his antics, anticipate them, and have a clear mind to plan our next move.”

Despair, left to fester, can lead to apathy and withdrawal. By approaching evolving developments with acceptance, we can inoculate ourselves against falling into despair, yet it is worth discussing, because when it’s effectively channeled, despair can drive an uprising. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) echoed the point: “I call on every person in this country to demand that their U.S. senator demands an actual trial with the facts on the table.”

But uprisings seldom if ever take place without direction and coordination.

One would think, given all that’s happened so far, there would be more coordinated efforts at resistance taking place around the nation. Their absence speaks volumes about the misplaced priorities of our National Democratic leadership. What’s needed is a campaign dedicated to persuading the public of the merits of ending the trump regime’s hold on power in the country.

Contrary to what Adam Schiff might think, the crucial battle to be won will not be waged in the Senate or, at least for now, in the Courts, but rather in the court of public opinion, as is clear to anyone paying attention to the polling data.  Without public support, the evidence presented thus far, damning as it might seem to those of us who can’t wait to see him go, is not winning the argument to persuade his supporters that trump is doing harm to the country.

Jennifer Rubin put it succinctly in today’s Washington Post: “While the House makes clear that impeachment is urgent, there is no remedy for a clear and present danger in a farcical non-trial.”

A more sensible approach would be, in Rubin’s words, to “decline to send over the articles (to the Senate) until such rules for a real trial can be agreed upon,” or, if that fails, “to never send over the articles,” thereby denying McConnell his “sham trial.”  Carrying the matter over into 2020 unresolved would also allow time for the various court challenges brought forth by those issued subpoenas to play out, possibly yielding more evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

The cynic in me doubts the House will follow Rubin’s advice, and that’s a pity. I hope I’m wrong!

Tim Konrad

12/16/19