Politics has turned me into a mess

[Jupiter]

Yeah, add me to the list as well.

The person I'm having the hardest time communicating with is my mom, who believes everything Trump and Fox News says. In recent months, she's started to post Islamophobic videos on her Facebook. Once I pointed out that a video doesn't show what she thinks it does (e.g. those are soccer fans rioting after a match, not Muslims), she actually said she believed it to be Muslims rioting. It showed me that she and others like her don't care about truths or facts, and if that's not what's going to change their minds, then I don't know what will.

It's very saddening. I like my mom and we live in different countries. I was in the habit of calling her every Sunday morning, but it gets harder. She is an angrier person now, the result of a steady diet of bad, fake news. We try to avoid politics, but it seeps in; it's wrapped up with our identities. She's always been conservative, but this is different. Republicans won and yet they are so enraged. It's very strange and distressing.

That aside, I try to place some parameters around my consumption of news (e.g. not on Facebook). I'm careful about what I consume, when, and how. For example, my husband watched the Kavanaugh hearings live, including the testimony from Christine Blasey Ford. I chose not to. I read about it and listened to wrap-ups and snippets later, going to sources that I trust and will just inform me without clickbait, scare tactics, or hyperbole.

I also really worry about what the political landscape is going to be like after Trump.

 

[Ashiri]

I'm fortunate that I can talk politics with my father and we're mostly in agreement on a lot of things, especially Trump and Brexit. My mother doesn't like the news on because of DJT.

 

[Sid]

Wow, this thread is an eye opener.
Here in Europe we know 45 is an asshole and stirring up a lot of , but that it affects decent normal everyday people like you all in this manor.... wow. I had no idea.

Now I read all this, I owe you an apologize for trying to be funny by using the orange one as my Halloween avatar on VVO.
The whole world seems to be slowly shifting to the right, but it becomes more and more clear the USA has shifted into a political hell.
Sorry that I misjudged the actual situation so badly.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Wow, this thread is an eye opener.

Thank you, Sid, for this absolutely lovely post. It feels like we're being heard outside our own American bubble of chaos.

Yes, things are getting bad here. Very bad. And so many of us know it, but whether or not we can stem the tide of hatred and scapegoating is very much up in the air. Midterm elections will be telling.

The Kavanaugh hearing and midterms are setting the stage for what is to come: a battle to defend rule of law or capitulation to Trump's imperialism. They are tightly tied because Kavanaugh's role is to protect Trump and the GOP from the coming legal assaults, to lop the head of the Mueller investigation and what it will reveal about the deep-reaching tentacles of Russian influence.

If the defeat of the GOP is not decisive this fall, if they are not knocked on their asses in both Houses of Congress, then the entire world should know that we are not a country that can be trusted anymore. We do not have sufficient control over own affairs to protect ourselves and our professed values, much less you, from the power we still wield.

 

[Archer]

Since the election I have been obsessively following everything in the news, mostly trying to convince myself that 1) things were not as bad as they seemed, and 2) that somebody, somewhere, was going to DO SOMETHING! I think it was around the time that the news reports of immigrant children being abused that I reached my limit, and realized that there was far more evil happening here than I was aware of, and that there is no clear way to stop it. I am disillusioned with the news media, for hopping from one story to the next like ping pong balls. Sure, they are exposing tons of problems, but those are forgotten within hours, and there seems to be no follow-up unless there is more breaking news about them. IMHO, the 4th Estate is ill equipped to handle this situation, which is terrifying. I also think Fox is one of the root causes of where we are, because they've been left unchecked, and now feed fuel to the fire of ignorance and bigotry. While there are glimpses of hope, midterms being one, I am currently only glancing at the news maybe once or twice a day, and trying to keep myself from despairing of my country's future.

 

[Essence Lumin]

A few months back there was some rumour that Mueller would conclude things by the end of September in order to avoid influencing the election. That didn't happen.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

This is a difficult topic... what happened to the public discourse is more or less this, what British actor Tom Walker ranted ....

I stopped watching the moment he started blaming the left for Trump getting elected.

Hypotheticals be damned. The fault for Trump lies with the conservatives who United behind him. Like a belligerent drunk driver, they succeeded in preventing us from taking the emergency break before they did something unrepairable. It's their fault, and I'm done with the left crying that it's our fault.

 

[Roxanne Blue]

We share some of the same media, so some of you may know about my long-running "debates" with my toxic Trumper brothers. I have unfriended one and unfollowed the other, because what's the point of arguing with either of them when whataboutism, deflection, abuse and outright glee at the suffering of others is what I get back? Yeah, I'm done.

I am a lifelong news junkie, but I have begun to watch it at a remove and on my own schedule. I watch PBS news a day late, and sometimes BBC News America when I want to find news from beyond the confines of USA. I record one of the evening network news programs, but often "forget" to watch, as I know I'll be furious by the end of at least one segment.

This is not normal. Trump flying about the country to hold "rallies" in a state of permanent campaigning, and spewing abuse every day from Twitter is NOT normal political behavior. He is a "clear and present danger" and we had better retake Congress next month, or it will only get worse.

 

[Jolene Benoir]

I find myself in a near constant state of fear and rage as it relates to my country and what is happening to it. I am truly incredibly afraid for what we've become and worse, where we are going.

I do have a tendency to see what is happening and report on it more than offering up methods to allay concern by saying "We can get out of this." I am increasingly becoming terrified that we cannot. When I post about what is happening, it is perhaps akin to screaming in the streets, "Look at what is happening, put down the damn remote, pay attention, recognize this threat and get involved!" Not saying that here, as everyone here is already highly aware and involved, but I'm sure that I haven't been able to shut that off when I'm here.

As to friends or family who might be Trumpers, and having to deal with the fallout of that, I am fortunate in that nobody in my inner circle is one. There are some extended members who may be, but have the good sense to not breach that with me. More frequently, as many of my family members are significantly younger than I, I remind them that this is not how it is supposed to be and encourage them to get active, with more than a gentle nudge, for you see, many of them don't know any different. They haven't lived in a time in which a certain segment of the press wasn't actively using propaganda.

 

[Beebo Brink]

This feels like the final exam on the character of our country. What I've seen is that a large segment of the population is easy prey to obvious (blatantly obvious) fascist ploys of race-baiting and fear-mongering. False equivalencies are swallowed whole, precisely because they play to the worst fears of people who are wary of change and loss of special privilege that feels to them like normalcy.

Fear is the driving mechanism. It short-circuits the brain, literally shuts off the ability to absorb facts. The financial walls have been closing in on the middle/working class for decades now, and that underlying insecurity makes people vulnerable to strong leaders with "easy" solutions to their problems. It makes it easy to point them toward the scapegoats.

Those of us who don't fear change, don't fear immigrants, don't fear loss of privilege (because we have none or because we recognize it's undeserved), find ourselves blinking and confused that other people can't see how they're being manipulated. To us, it appears OBVIOUS. The meanness, the hatred, the vindictiveness that is roiling off the GOP hard core is OBVIOUS and repulsive. For others, unfortunately, it's the attraction.

These divisions between friends and between family members: We're seeing that people who can be absolutely lovely within the confines of their own tribe, are not so lovely to those outside it. That conflict is the dawning recognition that you're being expelled from their tribe, as they are from yours. The false equivalency is that "both sides" are equally hateful, but that is a lie. Being repulsed by racism, corporate greed, exclusion, misogyny and authoritarianism is not the same as being repulsed by rule of law, fairness, justice and democratic principles of openness and inclusion.

The same democratic ideals that we've strived to broaden and deepen have -- by their nature -- opened the door to Fox News, corporate corruption, cronyism, and left us vulnerable to Russian infiltration.

 

[WolfEyes]

You are definitely not alone Cindy. I learned a long time ago (decades) that if I wanted to keep my blood pressure and stress levels down to not watch the news or keep up with current political events. What I read on SLU and now VV is more than enough. I've even had to go so far as to disown what is left of my family.

Take care of yourself and the rest will take care of itself. There will be another (better) Obama. We just have to wait it out and then pick up the pieces as per usual.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

We're seeing that people who can be absolutely lovely within the confines of their own tribe, are not so lovely to those outside it. That conflict is the dawning recognition that you're being expelled from their tribe, as they are from yours.

In my case, I still have a sister and a brother I speak to, but that's probably because I share some views with them. Meanwhile, the next family reunion for me is likely to be:

 

[Kukulcan]

I've gotten into fights with my parents about all this crap recently. They're hardcore trumpsuckers now and I made the mistake of thinking logic and facts would work when discussing issues with them. When I trot out logic or a fact, they quickly interrupt me and talk over me, which only reveals that they know what I say to be true, and thus can't even allow themselves to hear it. My stomach felt awful and weird for a whole week after the last argument, I've never had that happen.

But I've accepted that they're unmovable in this aspect, and I will now just try to run out the clock, until they're gone.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Meanwhile, the next family reunion for me is likely to be...

I have to work hard to generate empathy for people who are upset because they cut themselves off from family. I confess that as one of my own emotional short-comings, not in any way as criticism of that emotion in others.

"Family" as a concept just doesn't raise positive associations for me. It's fraught with tension, anxiety, insecurity, wariness, and keeping an eye for the EXIT signs. I have to take everyone else's word for it that crossing someone off that list is difficult because my own issue in life has always been that I can cut too easily, walk away too quickly, from these "blood alliances" that tie me to people I barely know and don't like.

So my apologies if I ever appear too cavalier about these hard choices people are making.

 

[Lianne Marten]

Family should be a choice. You don't have to be related to someone to be part of their family, and people whose blood you have don't need to be in yours. One singular fluke of genetics shouldn't lock you permanently into a toxic relationship for the rest of your life.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

The whole world seems to be slowly shifting to the right, but it becomes more and more clear the USA has shifted into a political hell.

Imagine, for a moment, your favorite meaty dish. Pizza, lasagna, a good mince meat pit, whatever. And you know that there's probably some things in it that aren't completely healthy, but you love it anyway and feel no real guilt diving into one for dinner.

Then you discover that that delicious dish is made by Nazi-worshippers who chopped up someone just like you to use as the meat for your favorite dish, because they believe God entitles them to profit off damning lies, deadly practices and cruelty-for-yucks-and-no-consequences.

Okay, 'fine' you think... I'm done with their meaty dish now that I know what's in it, and who's making it, and I'll even protest, and try to get what their doing to be outlawed.

And the next morning you found out your neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, political leaders already knew. And not only don't care but LIKE that meaty dish -BECAUSE- of who makes it and what's in it. They've declared, to your face, their unflagging and irrational support for them because, frankly, they just hate you that much... and have found new tyrannical strength in their open unashamed solidarity.

That... I think, is part of the real pain and anguish that the left over here is going through. Bad leaders come and go... what seems to have changed is the moral fabric of America. We don't feel safe because we -KNOW- that the people who hate us value their loyalty to each other above the rule of law, and when someone wrongs us, they'll conspire to make it OUR fault to whatever degree they're able, even if only in the court of public opinion.

We woke up after the election and discovered ourselves deep behind enemy lines.

 

[Jolene Benoir]

We woke up after the election and discovered ourselves deep behind enemy lines.

Yes, yes we did. That is one of the best ways I have seen it put.

 

[Beebo Brink]

We woke up after the election and discovered ourselves deep behind enemy lines.

I just read an interview with a hardcore Republican who had worked at high levels of several GOP administrations and then went through an epiphany about the true nature of his party. I'm too tired to go find the reference, but I'm sure someone here can provide it because he's been pretty high profile lately shilling his confessional book.

He's finally woke to the fact that racism in the GOP has been a selling point for years. It's the racism, the misogyny, the dog-whistles that pulled in the support, not the wonky policies that he associated with conservative values. He thought he was preaching to an auditorium of like-minded intellectuals, and instead, in the darkened shadows the seats were being filled up with deplorables. The dog whistle promises from the GOP leaders fed the popular hunger, but never delivered the meat. And that's when Donald Trump walked on stage, turned up the lights, and gave them what the audience what they really wanted.

Republicans of principle -- as this man considered himself to be -- are also finding themselves behind enemy lines. Lines they helped build.

 

[Essence Lumin]

Imagine, for a moment, your favorite meaty dish. Pizza, lasagna, a good mince meat pit, whatever. And you know that there's probably some things in it that aren't completely healthy, but you love it anyway and feel no real guilt diving into one for dinner.
...
We woke up after the election and discovered ourselves deep behind enemy lines.

1978

I've been cast into the mould of new times
I've been gassed behind enemy lines
I was the last one from two thousand and one young squaddies
I thought to myself, "It's got to be a dream"
That's when I noticed this hole in the green
And the girl in the bunker revealing her beautiful body

 

[WolfEyes]

Lines that should never have been drawn.

They wanted a war and they are getting it. Except it's not the one they expected.They thought it would be with immigrants and non whites. More fool they.