Dear Liss,
I recently read one of your pieces; although I can understand your frustration with the current situation, I need to tell you this:
You absolutely must accept it.
I get it; you’re burned out by all the bullshit the Grand Nagus has pulled. You’re sick of the garbage from the media, the fact that now certain things are being normalized. My hubby has a Trump Tracker on his Facebook timeline; I’m often groaning aloud and saying, “It’s only been X days since he took office! Why does it feel like a lifetime?!” I’m frustrated, angry.
I also have to face facts: even if Donald Trump gets impeached and the moon falls on Mike Pence and somehow the entire Republican Congress suddenly implodes, Hillary Clinton will not be able to step up and take control of the White House. Neither will Bernie. Nor will Jill Stein. For the love of all that is holy and good, let that sink in. Feel the anger, the shock and grieve. You need to grieve. In the weeks following the election, I grieved. I felt exhausted and alone. I felt afraid; this election meant that one of my friends could very well lose hard earned rights.
I felt helpless. There are days that I still do.
But I also have accepted the reality of the situation. There is only so much that dwelling in the past can do. In this case, it will do little to nothing.
No, I am not trying to silence you. Far from it. I have had well-meaning friends doing the same to me, telling me that “things aren’t so bad” or that I shouldn’t be “so upset”. Believe me when I say, I am telling you neither of these things. Yes, you should be angry. You should be upset. You should be holding people accountable for their bullshit. But you should also realize that it is counterproductive to wallow in feelings of self-pity, not when there is so much to be done now. Then, there’s this:
They will mean the difference between life and death, for countless people. Why should I “get over” that? How can I? Why would anyone want to?
Because it is over. The wailing and gnashing of teeth will do nothing right now. Accept that yes, the Grand Nagus has won the presidency. Accept that yes, HRC won the popular vote but not the electoral college. Accept these facts and expend your energy into doing something useful; there are ways to resist. It is best that you do so. Turn that anger and rage and despair into something worthwhile. Simply walling yourself into a pillow fort with a mug of hot cocoa and some s’mores while wondering what went wrong won’t help. What will help? Action.
It will not be easy. But then again, nothing worth doing ever is. It will be a long fight and a hard one. Lest you forget, I also dealt with the presidency of George W. Bush. I remember that nightmare. I can remember how I was labeled a traitor because I didn’t support the invasion of Iraq. I remember how I was told that I didn’t care about the people who died in NYC because of that. I remember the blind patriotism, the “you’re either with us or against us” attitudes that so many Americans adopted. I remember those days very, very well. It was also around that time that I started watching Megatron’s Master Plan on DVD; the similarities between the episode and the political climate were not lost on me.
Those days were far from pleasant. These days will be less so.
Accepting this doesn’t mean that you have to shut the hell up over it. Far from it. If anything, it means you need to fight and fight hard. Blog. Protest. Say things that will make people uncomfortable. Resist. If you don’t like the current reality, work to change it.
Accept that this was the outcome. Then fight tooth and claw to resist. That is what must be done here. Get over that.
Sincerely,
Silverwynde
Iacon East 