After the last presidential election, I made the hard decision to refrain from posting on White House politics for the duration. Admittedly, it’s been a trial when it comes to biting my tongue.
For one thing, my degree’s in political science, with a strong dose of the Federalist Papers and the foundation of American political theory. For another, I spent most of my career in the newsroom and watched with dread as these developments gathered momentum.
What I sensed with Trump was that I could add nothing from the sidelines. The storm had to play itself out, and vital criticism would ultimately have to come from the so-called conservative side of the spectrum.
What I didn’t anticipate was how appalling the daily affronts would be, each one washing over the previous one before the impact could sink in. No blogger watching the news from afar could react in time to remain current. Well, maybe by taking a longer term view, like once a week, but it would have been a full-time job.
As you can see, I had enough else to post on, trying to maintain a life-is-normal focus, even amid the current Covid culture.
Still, drafting this confession is painful. I long to see decency and intelligence return to leadership and society in general. At this stage, it won’t happen overnight. But we can hope the tide will turn.
I was very encouraged by the two major gubernatorial candidates in Utah making a joint campaign ad. Maybe there is hope for civility!
https://lorneanderson.com/2020/10/26/doing-politics-right/
Indeed.
cross the Big Pond it might be considered inappropriate to comment on Trump and USA Politics….all the more so when we here have our own Boris (I cannot call him Prime Minister), I guess for most folk , with you and over here, to quote you “I could add nothing from the sidelines. The storm had to play itself out,” is perhaps our only option. Not sure your problems will go away after your elections….ours have some way to go yet before it is played out .
The root causes will indeed remain, but we might at least have a chance to work on them.
These past four years must have been agonizing for you. I do agree that making comments on the latest news is not useful, and just drags down one’s energy. I just tell myself that he is not my president, although denying reality isn’t a solution. It helps me feel better.
We don’t use the “P” word for this individual.