I’m super depressed about the state of things right now. The Republican party, after acquitting a president that openly asked a foreign power to meddle in our election, is more popular than it’s been since 2005. The president himself is more popular than he’s even been during his presidencu, with half of the population saying he should be re-elected. The Democrats are flailing around trying to find someone to unify their base, while admitting that’s all but impossible when they don’t really have a base, but many different groups that identify as Democrat for different reasons. Trump is almost certainly going to be re-elected this year, with a strong economy and record-low unemployment rates. The past four years, in all their misery, will ultimately be looked back on as not that bad, because Trump will surely unleash untold horrors now that he’s been acquitted, and especially after he is re-elected.
All of this feels almost certain. A part of me knows I shouldn’t think these ways, that I should be hopeful for a different outcome. But another part of me wonders if that hope will just make the fall that much harder when it happens. Will I be more prepared for the nightmare that is Trump being re-elected in November if I assume it will happen? Or will the bleakness of that assumption make it harder to face the reality once it’s come to pass?
In the meantime I’m disengaging for a while. No more TPM. No more NYT. I just need to step away, because reading about it makes me so incredibly depressed. I haven’t felt this bad in ages. This kind of hopelessness is a dark, deep hole, and I don’t know how to get out.
I feel the same way. I work for the military and most of them are secretly hoping someone else wins … Its a disgrace especially when you work with companies oversea as a member of the military. He literally is the laughing stock of everyone 🙁
Same. 😔
100% same. Will join you on break from news. It’s really affecting my mood/focus because I feel sick about it.
Please keep writing here. You are making a difference.
As always, vote. Use the fear to keep the pressure on people you know to vote and to contribute funds if possible. And know there ARE people holding hands with you; we are not alone.
You and I are definitely on the same page politically. The only difference is that I’ve already been on a media fast for a while. I don’t watch TV news, I read very little news, and I only listen to NPR when they aren’t talking about impeachment or the 2020 election.
I’ve had to do this not only for the sake of my sanity but for my physical health: I suffered a heart attack last November and have been instructed to reduce my stress. No way to do that if I pay attention to U.S. politics.
I donate money to candidates and causes, sign petitions, make calls, send emails and assist in GOTV efforts. After that, I have to let it go.
I agree that things are continuing to go downhill, but I want to make sure that if Trump is re-elected, that I did everything that I could to make sure that DIDN’T happen. One of the ways I am going to do that is to write postcards to get people to vote in WI! I’m in IL and my state is definitely going Democratic (like CA will). Why not get more Dems to vote in a swing state?
https://www.postcards2wi.com/
You wrote about your daughter and eye exercises and I learned a lot. I now have a grand doing eye exercises that sound quite similar and I am so appreciative of all you taught and shared. ALSO, completely impressed you got her exercises done all the time with all the time pressures in your family’s lives. Please take a bow for achieving that and another for the gift of sharing that has helped me understand and assist my grand. YOU make differences in the world, positive and wonderful ones!
THANK YOU!