He who must not be named

I'm sorry this blog has turned into an outlet for me to express my fear over Trump. I'll try to blog about something else eventually but oh my goodness, I need an outlet during this election period and this is a safe space.

I almost hate to waste any energy on him but at the same time, anyone paying attention should be terrified. (My opinion.)

I've always tried to understand where people with different opinions than my own are coming from. I don't assume they're stupid or incapable of critical thinking. With Trump supporters, I try to understand what appeals to them about his "message" (which I think is something vague about making America great again though it seems his actual plans for that involve racism, fear, finger-pointing, war, condescending speeches, painting/accusing with a broad brush, and childish reactionary behavior).

A friend of mine who is not a Trump supporter herself described to me what some of her Trump supporting family members see in him. It's a bit complicated to get into here, but it did help me understand a bit. Not agree - oh no, not agree in the slightest - but understand. And I'm sure Trump supporters have varying reasons to support him, many of which I simply don't know about or understand.

But I can't in the tiniest bit get on board. From kicking babies out of rallies to much more upsetting behavior, I can't get on board.

We are at an extremely interesting place in history. We just had (have) our first black president (who I adore) who, by simply being who he is brought many things to the surface of our culture. Racism, for one thing (I do not believe he is racist, nor is it his fault that his presence brought this out so much - it's simply an observation). The civil rights movement was not too long ago, and boy do we still have a long way to go. Feminism still has a long way to go. We have an increasingly diverse society which makes many people uncomfortable. We're still not comfortable talking about race.

We have a nonstop news cycle. We have so many "news" websites - some more reliable than others. We have one website that cites "facts" that another website denounces. Who is right?

We have social media which tells us exactly where our friends alliances fall - something we could have been blissfully unaware of before. It's a unique and difficult time we're trying to navigate.

So, what's the solution? Listening would be a good start. Trying to understand. Giving people the benefit of the doubt. Treating each other with respect. Having patience.

I'm talking to myself here. I should work on those things.

I'm sorry if this is a bit disjointed. Oh no... have I started using my blog as a journal? I guess not because I do want to engage with others who may be feeling similar things or just want to get through this political cycle with me.

Can something be called a cycle if it never ends?