Every day it’s something new. Maybe it’s an offensive tweet, an unpresidential/ authoritarian speech, a new bill attacking the poor and sick, or another woman accusing the President of sexual assault. It is always something, every single day since November 8th, 2016. I wake up everyday to disappointing news and I shake my head in despair, thinking to myself, for the one millionth time – how the hell did we get here?
In May of 2015, when he announced his campaign, people were outraged by Donald Trump. This is when he-now famously-announced that he was going to build a wall along the Mexican border, attacking Mexicans and immigrants calling them “rapists.” I remember everyone around me was stunned that a Presidential candidate could say something like that and want to deport millions of hard working immigrants.
Now, it feels as if whatever he tweets is just what we have come to expect from the President of the United States. Every ignorant word that comes out of his mouth or twitter fingers has become the norm to our nation in the Trump era.
I think our numbness has developed, in part, because we are all exhausted. We are tired of having to deal with a President who has the temperament and stamina of a 5 year old Kindergartener. We are tired of constantly being outraged by everything this administration is dumping on this nation. We can’t keep up with all of the terrifying rhetoric and policies that this administration spews out all the time. If you’re like me, sometimes you feel like you are going crazy and can’t take it anymore. So, you feel like the best thing to do is delete your Twitter app and ignore the noise of the Trump authoritarian regime.
Even though it’s so hard to look at what our country has come to, we cannot treat this as normal behavior, especially from a world leader. We must constantly think to ourselves, would a true leader act like this? Would they lash out at other world leaders and politicians like a petty 15 year old? Look at other world leaders and see how they act and conduct themselves during times of trouble. Don’t we deserve a leader that represents our country in a positive manner and doesn’t make us look like an embarrassment to the rest of the world?
I can understand how hard it can be to keep up with politics during a very scary time in our nation’s history, but look back at the reality you used to know before Trump. Remember how Obama used to conduct himself. The last thing we need to do now in the Trump era is become numb to the chaos that is going on around us. If you feel as if it is too overwhelming for you, there is no problem with turning your news notifications off or taking a break from Twitter and Facebook. Self-care is important, so take a breath and watch a good show on Netflix or a funny YouTube video. Just remember that ignoring what is going on won’t help.
Like the late Heather Heyer said, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”