What I Think of Trump
Oh he’s atrocious. Disgusting. Abhorrent.
Listening to Trump speak is like having a bucket of piss and feces poured over my head, being hosed with vomit, and then lying on a tanning bed for two hours.
If we were write out the filthiest 1000 words in the dictionary with a Sharpie and feed those pages to 100 demons, then use the Dark Crystal to distill the essence of those demons into a tonic, and then have Hannibal Lecter drink that tonic, we’d end up with something that was much too angelic to approximate Trump.
If there was ever a time for the old woman from The Princess Bride who calls out “Boo! Boo!” to make an appearance, we sure could use her services now.
I’m neither a Democrat nor a Republican, nor do I belong to any other political party. My impression of Trump isn’t political in nature – it’s much more basic than that. The very sight and sound of him makes me want to wretch, so my objection to his presence in the White House is largely physiological. I object to the frequent bouts of nausea.
Opinion of Republicans
I’ve known many Republicans over the years, especially those I met and befriended through Toastmasters. Most I considered to be fine human beings. Some were a bit excessive with the flag waving and religious fervor, but I could respect some of their values like duty and honor.
Having a Republican friend is a lot like having a dog. They’re friendly and loyal and usually offer warm greetings, and they don’t rub against your leg like cats do.
However, in large part due to Trump’s influence over this party in recent years and seeing how many have been supporting him, the word Republican means something different to me these days. Instead of associating the brand with words like conservative, dutiful, patriotic, and religious (i.e. mostly harmless), now my mind is infected with different associations that include racist, liar, misogynist, enabler, violent, nationalist, unintelligent, polluting, backwards, conspiracy theorist, nutter, etc.
I would have expected a surge in more Republicans opposing this dufus and the ridiculous backsliding we’ve been enduring, but nope… mostly just more cowardice. And then I thought, hmmm… I haven’t really spoken up much about this myself yet. So damn… guess I’d better do so now. Yup, finger pointing at me too.
It seems ridiculous to me that anyone should support such a person who’s directly taking actions that harm us all, especially enacting policies that negatively impact our health as human beings. That makes it personal to me, not political.
Backsliding
My work is centered on three core principles: truth, love, and power. That hasn’t changed in more than a decade. These principles are explained in great depth in my book Personal Development for Smart People. These principles point us in the direction of growth. They’re universal and work across all areas of life, and they apply to government just as much as individuals. When we turn against even one of these principles, we slow ourselves down. Trump has turned against all three, which is why we’ve been going backwards.
I think we can agree that Trump isn’t aligned with truth since he lies pretty much every time he speaks (hence the nausea I experience due to my bullshit intolerance). I think we can also agree he isn’t aligned with love, except perhaps for his love of golf and lies (including lies about golf). And while he likes power for himself, he doesn’t empower and inspire us like a real leader could. He tries to rule by fear, but this country has a lot of ornery people who object to fear-based attempts at leadership.
I’m living in a backwards country right now. That’s the truth for this moment. But I think we can change that. Count me among the ornery who don’t settle for the status quo.
Rise of Desires
Like any other form of backsliding, the upside is that we gain clarity about what we want instead. New desires rise from the ashes of atrocious results.
I’d love to see a mentally and emotionally healthy President who actually cares about human beings and the planet. Screw this backsliding towards more coal and oil. Let’s greenify the whole world. We can surely go faster.
I’d love to see a U.S. President doing real leadership, like talking about how we can create a greener, cleaner world together. Put out a message aligned with truth, love, and power. Act in alignment with that message. A cleaner planet means healthier, smarter, and more capable people. And that means more growth and improvement for us all.
Republicans in Government
Okay, so you’re afraid of the backlash if you oppose Trump. You want to preserve your political career, and Trump could threaten that if you speak out against him.
Let’s stipulate that all of that is true. Let’s assume that if you oppose Trump, your political career goes caput.
It doesn’t matter.
Your political career is already dead. Maybe you’re not seeing it yet. But seriously, are you inspired to go to work each day? Do you really enjoy the sliminess of it all?
You’ve lost touch with your values. You’re getting little or nothing done that matters. You’ve slipped into untenable territory. There’s no advancement for you on this path anymore.
If you stay your current course, history will not be kind to you. You’ll always be remembered as one of the bad guys… as one of Trump’s enablers… as one of the people who didn’t matter. So many people already regard what you’re doing as stupid. That’s only going to get worse.
Twenty years from now, will you regret staying silent, or will you regret speaking up? Of course you’ll regret staying silent. It will eat at you till you die. You’ll always wonder what might have been… if only you’d pursued the path of courage.
Your path of redemption is clear. Grow a spine. Speak up. Recover your dignity. Apologize for staying silent so long. I think you’ll be surprised by how much support flows into your life once you stop playing small.
When you’re immersed in a party that’s going the wrong direction, the party isn’t your friend. You will lose the support of many within it, but you’ll gain the support of those who matter. The party isn’t stronger than you are. You’re stronger. You just need to look within and recognize that strength. Yes, it’s scary. And it’s also a test of your character – with consequences for us all.
Start speaking your truth. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but you’ll get used to it. You may even find it fun.
You know it’s best for all of us to send this ROUS in the White House back to the Fire Swamp. So let’s get that done and get on with the real business of creating a more honest, compassionate, and empowered world for so many more people.
We’re on the verge of such an incredible avalanche of abundance in this world. We have a tremendous invitation here to come together and create a wildly better planet for us all, on a level that’s never happened before. Perhaps Trump’s role is to represent the final purging of negative energy before we go full speed ahead, like when you have a really good dump right before giving a speech, and you just know it’s going to be stellar because of that.
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