Love is Better in Stormy Weather

Hatred and lies ran rampant in the Trump White House during this week of love. You could say it was, unfortunately, business as usual. I came across this lovely handmade valentine of resistance by artist Kate Madeira the other day while scrolling through my Facebook feed. It embodies the mantra "love trumps hate." I am on board with destroying white supremacy and leaving nothing but compassion in its place. Honestly, it's about time.

If Donald Trump by some odd chance stumbled upon this blog post, he'd call it "fake news." He calls any media that speaks truth to the power of the position he abuses "fake news." The way in which he talks about and treats the media is belittling and demeaning. He refers to The New York Times as "the failing New York Times," and lumps the platform along with CNN, NBC News, CBS, and ABC into the category of, you guessed it, "fake news." Meanwhile, he sings his praises of Fox & Friends and syndicated talk show host Rush Limbaugh on Twitter like a narcissistic songbird who never gets tired of the sound of his own voice. 

My jaw dropped as I listened to what he said at his first solo news conference on Thursday. It was a 77 minute rant about the media in the presence of the media, no less. He painted himself as the victim and the press as the villain. Here are some of his statements I found the most shocking:

"The press has become so dishonest that if we don't talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people."

 "Russia is fake news. This is fake news put out by the media." 

"I've never seen more dishonest media than, frankly, the political media." 

"The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake, because so much of the news is fake."

And then there was this portion of the rant that he doesn't want you to call a rant, directed at CNN press:

"I'm involved. I've been involved with this stuff all my life, but I'm involved, so I know when you're telling the truth or when you're not. I just see many, many untruthful things. And I'll tell you what else I see; I see tone. You know? The word tone? The tone is such hatred. I'm really not a bad person, by the way. No, but the tone is such - I do get good ratings, you have to admit that. The tone is such hatred! I watched this morning a couple of the networks and I have to say Fox & Friends in the morning, they're very honorable people, not because they're good, because they hit me also when I do something wrong, but they have the most honest morning show. That's all I can say; it's the most honest.... The public gets it, you know. Look, when I go to rallies they turn around and start screaming at CNN. They want to throw their placards at CNN. I think you would do much better by being different.... Tomorrow they will say 'Donald Trump rants and raves at the press.' I'm not ranting and raving! I'm just telling ya, you're dishonest people. But, but, I'm not ranting and raving. I love this. I'm having a good time doing it. But, tomorrow, the headlines are going to be 'Donald Trump rants and raves.' I'm not ranting and raving." 

Ah, yes. Donald Trump: the decipherer of truth and supreme lie detector. NO! He cannot discern fact from fiction just as he has proven himself unable to know right from wrong. Donald Trump's facts are falsehoods and his falsehoods are facts. This is the stuff I've read in dystopian novels (1984, anyone?) I never imagined a person elected to hold the highest, most esteemed office in the world could be this backwards and delusional. 

I'm frightened by the man whose campaign was in contact with Russia throughout the election process. Who has whitewashed the White House by appointing individuals to positions of power whose only concern is coddling their white fragility and oppressing those they believe somehow threaten their porcelain privilege. I'm frighted by the man who has no filter and speaks nonsense in 140 characters or less. Who thinks he has the right to grope women. Who mocks the disabled. Who dehumanizes immigrants and refugees. Who believes black lives don't matter. Whose own agenda takes unprecedented precedence over the needs of the American people. 

Donald Trump surpassed being out of touch with reality a long time ago. Right now he's in Mar-a-Lago, "the winter White House," as he likes to call it. I don't watch Game of Thrones, but I am familiar with the phrase "winter is coming." Winter has come and it's not going anywhere. There is a storm of resistance churning around the world that grows stronger each day. It's in every small town and big city. The political climate will be stormy the next four years (or as long as he lasts in office.) The people will keep protesting. The people will keep contacting their representatives. The people will continue to rise up. The people will embrace love, conquer hate, and make every voice heard. That's a forecast Donald Trump should be frightened by. 

~Bitsy