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calimary

(81,110 posts)
22. Welcome DU, dembychoice!
Sun Dec 4, 2016, 12:06 AM
Dec 2016

It will stick with me for a long time, too. Indeed, maybe forever. I keep trying to get over it, move beyond it, forgive, understand, all those considerations and allowances that we all know they'd NEVER give us if things went the other way. And I am simply not there. I can't find my way there. At least not yet. Certainly not right now.

What really bothers me, at its most basic and fundamental (for me), is that I go straight to the mother thing. That's the lens through which I've come to process everything. That's the one way that enables me to get in touch with the pain behind Black Lives Matter. Because of those mothers. I'M a mother. That's how I can relate. And connect. And in a distant sense, try to walk in their shoes.

I default straight to the mother thing with trump as well. Look at the behavior displays throughout the campaign. We never saw this at Marco Rubio events or rallies for jeb! or Ted Cruz public events, or any of 'em. The only time we saw it among Bernie followers was fairly early in the campaign, in Chicago, I believe, when they were peacefully protesting at a trump rally - and it was the trump people who attacked them and picked the fight with them. The Bernie people didn't start it. The absolutely reprehensible, anti-social, disgraceful, bullying, menacing, and in many cases actually violent behavior that was ever on display happened exclusively at trump events, involving hot-headed trump people, acting out and throwing tantrums like a crowd of spoiled-brat five-year-olds who weren't getting their way!

So it has to be asked - WHAT HAS THIS TAUGHT US? That the bad guys win - and that it's perfectly okay?
That we SHOULDN'T have class and act like adults and not be vicious and spiteful and aggressive and hateful with people - to a physical extent?
That it's okay to be a racist?
It's okay to be a bigot?
It's okay to be a misogynist?
It's okay to mock the disabled?
It's okay to take pride in one's celebrity because it lets you grab women by the crotch and in other ways invade their personal space without their permission?
It's okay??? That shit is OKAY??
Is this something you'd want your kid to do?
Or worse - is this something you teach your kid to do?

I swear, I wind up thinking "who the hell brought YOU up?" so frequently anymore. Whether I see trump or somebody acting out on TV, when I hear shitty comments from people who should be respectable; when I see somebody cutting another motorist off on the freeway at high speeds; when I see people acting mean or thoughtless or inconsiderate toward others, when I see rudeness or selfishness or total shameless self-absorption, I go straight there. "Who the hell brought you up???"

When I was growing up, that kind of behavior was discouraged! You didn't win anything by doing that except detention or a note home to your parents or an order to report immediately to the principal's office. Nobody wanted to be that! NOW, shit, you can win elections that way! Now you're praised and panted over and your every misdeed is excused, rationalized away, lied about, soft-pedaled, or ignored entirely. Now, that shameful behavior is rewarded and reinforced! As an example, there are now reports citing an increase in bullying at our schools. Because of trump - and what we're subconsciously learning from his success. The real message of his success is that shit behavior like his has been - and is being - reinforced, and rewarded.

I keep asking - "would you raise your kid that way?" At the moment, the answer across America seems to be "yes." Probably more accurately, an answer that's far more rude and nasty and in-yer-face. Not just a "yes," but a "yer goddamm right I am! Fuck you!"

I don't know what to say. ogradda Dec 2016 #1
Quite concise. kentuck Dec 2016 #2
Phil, you forgot to add that the orange one is a self-admitted sexual predator, who would like niyad Dec 2016 #3
and looking at 10 year old as someone to date JI7 Dec 2016 #8
Message auto-removed Name removed Dec 2016 #17
Welcome to DU, Table! calimary Dec 2016 #19
This is not the country I know. kentuck Dec 2016 #20
Yeah, we are. Faux news has brainwashed a lot of people. raging moderate Dec 2016 #23
Do you think we are in a crisis at this moment? kentuck Dec 2016 #25
Ding ding ding ding ding!!! lambchopp59 Dec 2016 #38
Welcome back! herding cats Dec 2016 #44
Say thanx for that link! lambchopp59 Dec 2016 #50
To be fair didnt he only say he might consider it when they were older? cstanleytech Dec 2016 #28
Exactly how I feel. Are_grits_groceries Dec 2016 #4
i agree. nt DesertFlower Dec 2016 #5
this is why it's different than Romney mccain or even bush JI7 Dec 2016 #6
Impossible to "come together & move forward" when... Beartracks Dec 2016 #7
Plus, Trump destroyed evidence that had been demanded by a court of law. Including emails. raging moderate Dec 2016 #9
I had to make peace with my Republican mother after Thanksgiving. SleeplessinSoCal Dec 2016 #10
Word for word! dembychoice Dec 2016 #11
Welcome DU, dembychoice! calimary Dec 2016 #22
Thank you calimary....love DU! dembychoice Dec 2016 #49
Truth to power! sagetea Dec 2016 #12
That says it, doesn't it? mnhtnbb Dec 2016 #13
It isn't just that I disagree with their political choice...I disrespect it. nt hay rick Dec 2016 #14
This. Exactly. Simple and to the point, nt stopwastingmymoney Dec 2016 #29
I will no longer visit my husband's brother and family mountain grammy Dec 2016 #15
This is what hurts me personally, like no other election before. Ilsa Dec 2016 #16
we do our have our principles bdamomma Dec 2016 #18
Excellent points... Docreed2003 Dec 2016 #27
I love this, intend to memorize it for my nieces and nephews. n/t Hamlette Dec 2016 #21
It Does For Me colsohlibgal Dec 2016 #24
This jackass could get us into World War III. duffyduff Dec 2016 #30
K&R lunamagica Dec 2016 #26
What pisses me off is when they say get over it. Third Doctor Dec 2016 #31
Wow...mic drop AgadorSparticus Dec 2016 #32
Notice how most of the comments HAB911 Dec 2016 #33
I'm completely pissed at the Republican Party. They enabled this by putting party over country. Vinca Dec 2016 #34
Ethics... GetRidOfThem Dec 2016 #35
"coming together to move forward" - Not Happening Rorey Dec 2016 #36
This is perfect. smirkymonkey Dec 2016 #37
'Thou shalt not put thy voter to the test' NRQ891 Dec 2016 #39
well, they are TOO!!!!! heaven05 Dec 2016 #41
I told my ex-friend heaven05 Dec 2016 #40
Simple...It was because you are a Deplorable! Auntie Bush Dec 2016 #42
I feel the same alarimer Dec 2016 #43
I'm afraid of what I might say at our family Christmas party Martin Eden Dec 2016 #45
I wish I could comment back at some of those commenters but you need a paid sub LiberalLovinLug Dec 2016 #46
I caused a stink with a Republican guy I know. He had his teenage son at his business and the guy TeamPooka Dec 2016 #47
He cracks the whip and the audience gathers... kentuck Dec 2016 #48
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