Much has been written about Outrage Fatigue when it comes to the words and actions of Donald J Trump, the infantile ignoramous who contaminates and disgraces the office to which 62,980,160 United States voters endorsed his occupancy in 2016.
One of the latest such expressions on the subject comes from the Washington Post’s op-ed contributor Alexandra Petri, whose recent column is titled “The disgusting ‘normal’ under Trump.”
The link:
https://wapo.st/2zgFWEF?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.f7b0f3a91a47
I was particularly struck by Petri’s adaptation of one of Abraham Lincoln’s observations. As she wrote it:
“You can be upset about some things all of the time, and everything some of the time, but you can’t be upset about all of the things all of the time.
Or can you?”
Well, we’d better be!
Let our outrage at his ignorant, vulgar, egomaniacal and dangerous conduct wane and we are lost.
Lose the outrage when he calls Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” and says he wants to throw a DNA kit at her to test her claim to native American ancestry just because he’s said it before (nothing new here) and we are lost.
Accept his ignorant notion that beginning a world-wide Trade War is in our best interests and we are lost.
Lose intensity in fighting for humane treatment of people who cross our borders and in fighting for sensible control of guns and we are lost.
Stop vigorous opposition to his moves to isolate our Country from Alliances and Global Institutions that have served us well and we are lost.
Accept the incivility of social intercourse and cruelty of social policy he practices and advocates and we are lost.
Yes, the Courts are still there to check him but for how long unless his power is trimmed? One more Gorsuch-like Justice and that bulwark is breeched.
The Republican controlled Congress is no friend to us in its’ servile allegiance to his every whim.
Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies which work to keep us safe are themselves under attack from the very person Constitutionally charged with protecting them.
Significant numbers of religious leaders have abandoned their duty to preach tolerance and the Golden Rule in favor of support for him.
The only true check on the spreading darkness of his “rule” which is dimming the light of our land is our outrage.
To try my hand at adapting someone else’s words, what we must do is (as DyanThomas wrote):
“Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Yes, we’d better be outraged “all of the time” and “rage” openly, strongly and effectively in public and at the ballot box on every level until this malignant disease spreading from 1600 Pennsylvania is quarantined.
And then eliminated.