A Year Later

I began writing Read Reid a year ago. It was the week after the 2016 election and America had just hired a failed casino owner and reality TV host to be the 45th President of the United States. I needed a day to day coping strategy that didn't involve bourbon; writing seemed like better therapy.

The year that has elapsed since has been difficult. That was not unexpected but Trumpism has significantly exceeded my lack of expectation. The incivility, partisanship, and ugliness on display in the political arena has stained the fabric that weaves us together. Social media is a cesspool, families have lost the ability to rationally talk to each other about differences. Compromise and empathy have become four letter words. Public discourse starts out loud, turns visceral quickly, and usually panders to the lowest common denominator.

Donald Trump isn't the cause of everything that has turned America sour. The ugly unleashed since last November didn't grow overnight. However, the Trump presidency is a testament to America's failures. The Trump presidency would not exist if America invested in education, infrastructure, and broadening the middle class. The Trump presidency would not exist if the aura of public service wasn't so toxic that qualified individuals run the other direction. The Trump presidency would not exist if Americans congregated into communities that celebrated diversity, equity and inclusion instead of congregating into fundamentalist enclaves celebrating a traditionless set of "traditional values" that most only selectively practice.

But the Trump presidency does exist and the country appears to be vomiting after a year of swallowing its own bile. Two mass shootings resulting in 83 deaths in just over a month, widespread sexual harassment/assault admissions by powerful men, charges in the special prosecutor case against former Trump campaign officials, continued fall out over the racism in Charlottesville, the hurricane in Puerto Rico, and immigration reform are all spewing out at once. Trump isn't directly responsible for everything bad that has happened on his watch but America hurts and Trump has demonstrated no ability to heal.

There have been some glimmers of hope. This year's November elections swung the pendulum a little bit back to the middle with Democratic gubernatorial victories in Virginia, New Jersey, and mayoral victories several major cities. Change will take more than a few Democratic wins. It will take a Democratic commitment to speak to the issues that allowed the Trump presidency to exist. That is a difficult task for a party that still doesn't have a message beyond "anything but Trump."

Yes, it's been a difficult year. More may follow and I don't have a quick fix solution. The best strategy I have is to try and maintain civility in the delivery of my message for change. Not everyone agrees with my point of view and those differences have distanced some friends and family. I welcome any fact based conversation that might bridge that distance. In the end, we still may agree to disagree but we will have done so comparing apples to apples and not Fox News to CNN.

Thus concludes blog entry 46; coming up next...