My headspace for the next 4 years

[Anonymous]

I refuse to let the next 4 years of president Trump and the chaos he brings affect me mentally the way it did 2016-2020. My plan now is to just sit back and watch (sometimes with popcorn) - at least when I feel like tuning in. Since this is a DC based board I assume many of you, like me, understand and have concerns about the democratic norms he upends and the disruption he brings and you do not take our system of government for granted. But at this point it seems the American people - or about half of them - want this disruption.

My state of mind is to focus on what is right in front of me - family, friends and local community. I will watch with detached interest what public administration reforms, to put it lightly, these next 4 years will bring. What I won't do is freak out, get upset, or worry about every outrageous thing he says or does because in a way that is what drives his power. Plus, I don't want to.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I refuse to let the next 4 years of president Trump and the chaos he brings affect me mentally the way it did 2016-2020. My plan now is to just sit back and watch (sometimes with popcorn) - at least when I feel like tuning in. Since this is a DC based board I assume many of you, like me, understand and have concerns about the democratic norms he upends and the disruption he brings and you do not take our system of government for granted. But at this point it seems the American people - or about half of them - want this disruption.

My state of mind is to focus on what is right in front of me - family, friends and local community. I will watch with detached interest what public administration reforms, to put it lightly, these next 4 years will bring. What I won't do is freak out, get upset, or worry about every outrageous thing he says or does because in a way that is what drives his power. Plus, I don't want to.

Thoughts?

Sitting back is not an effective way to get what you want. I would start to take a look at 2026 and see if there are seats in Congress that can be flipped. How do we get a winning coalition to get out and vote?

[Anonymous]

Same. I through WAY too much time and energy into the last Trump round.
I will take a good 3 years off from caring and donating but then will pick back up again.
At this point it doesn't matter. Half of our population saw exactly what he is and voted for him. There is NOTHING he could do that woudl make people turn on him. It is truly a cult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I refuse to let the next 4 years of president Trump and the chaos he brings affect me mentally the way it did 2016-2020. My plan now is to just sit back and watch (sometimes with popcorn) - at least when I feel like tuning in. Since this is a DC based board I assume many of you, like me, understand and have concerns about the democratic norms he upends and the disruption he brings and you do not take our system of government for granted. But at this point it seems the American people - or about half of them - want this disruption.

My state of mind is to focus on what is right in front of me - family, friends and local community. I will watch with detached interest what public administration reforms, to put it lightly, these next 4 years will bring. What I won't do is freak out, get upset, or worry about every outrageous thing he says or does because in a way that is what drives his power. Plus, I don't want to.

Thoughts?

My sense is that there are many who feel the same way. What will be interesting is the MAGA troll response. The owning the libs thing is really 2020 and many have just moved on. It’s like MAGA is almost angry that Trump won and got all of congress. It will be difficult for them with no one to blame and with a lot fewer people throwing themselves into the breach.

For example, if he does another Muslim ban, I doubt people will turn out to the airports to protest and vocally stand up for the rights of Muslim Americans. Same if there’s another pandemic from China, the anti-Asian hate will not garner as much sympathy.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I am here as well.

I think the people has spoken and the people should receive what they asked for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I refuse to let the next 4 years of president Trump and the chaos he brings affect me mentally the way it did 2016-2020. My plan now is to just sit back and watch (sometimes with popcorn) - at least when I feel like tuning in. Since this is a DC based board I assume many of you, like me, understand and have concerns about the democratic norms he upends and the disruption he brings and you do not take our system of government for granted. But at this point it seems the American people - or about half of them - want this disruption.

My state of mind is to focus on what is right in front of me - family, friends and local community. I will watch with detached interest what public administration reforms, to put it lightly, these next 4 years will bring. What I won't do is freak out, get upset, or worry about every outrageous thing he says or does because in a way that is what drives his power. Plus, I don't want to.

Thoughts?

Sitting back is not an effective way to get what you want. I would start to take a look at 2026 and see if there are seats in Congress that can be flipped. How do we get a winning coalition to get out and vote?

That sounds great, but people can't be convinced to ditch Trump and his party, his plan, his goals, none of that -- not by information. Not by activism. Not by offering a better alternative based on either actual accomplishments or good plans. If they could, they would have been, so nope.

This country wants Trump. I'm not going to storm the capitol, or burn ballots, or even cry over it. This is what they want, and that is the rule of the game -- more of them than there are people that don't want it, so this is what's for dinner. Fair enough.

I am going to work on things like justice and fair account on a more local level, and for individuals I can help. But I'm not wasting whatever energy and caring I have left on tilting at windmills. I'll do what I can, conserve my strength, and be ready for when people start to choose something different at the macro level. Until then, I'm not wasting anything on trying change the minds of people who get charged up by that in opposition.

Sorry. Shoot me as the messenger if you want. Not going to get worked up about you, either.

[Anonymous]

People in general are just upset most of the time. The only times in the last 25 years the incumbent party has kept the White House followed events that unified the country (9/11 and the death of Bin Laden). Barring something else along those lines I feel like the pendulum will soon swing back the other way.

[Anonymous]

Same, OP. Last time, it was a close win and people may not have known about Trump. This time, everyone knew and more voted for him. There’s nothing to fight. America wanted vulgar, vile and coarse hatred and lies. Facts and information won’t help. So FAFO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I refuse to let the next 4 years of president Trump and the chaos he brings affect me mentally the way it did 2016-2020. My plan now is to just sit back and watch (sometimes with popcorn) - at least when I feel like tuning in. Since this is a DC based board I assume many of you, like me, understand and have concerns about the democratic norms he upends and the disruption he brings and you do not take our system of government for granted. But at this point it seems the American people - or about half of them - want this disruption.

My state of mind is to focus on what is right in front of me - family, friends and local community. I will watch with detached interest what public administration reforms, to put it lightly, these next 4 years will bring. What I won't do is freak out, get upset, or worry about every outrageous thing he says or does because in a way that is what drives his power. Plus, I don't want to.

Thoughts?

Sitting back is not an effective way to get what you want. I would start to take a look at 2026 and see if there are seats in Congress that can be flipped. How do we get a winning coalition to get out and vote?

This. OP, I agree that this time around I will no longer freak out or worry and I also plan to sit back and enjoy the shitshow that is coming (because FAFO), but I am also going to focus on the next elections. As we pivot more to state rights, now more than ever we should all be paying more attention to our state politicians. In Virginia where I live, next year (November 2025) we will elect a Governor, Lt. Governor, and an AG. These positions can have a larger impact on our lives than those of politicians at the national level. AGs from blue states, for example, fought efforts to overturn the ACA. Don't just give up, OP. Get involved.

[Anonymous]

I supported Harris for president but was ready to oppose many of her policies. I have similar issues with Trump. The Dems deserved to go down just as much as Trump. What is fascinating is how they missed so many obvious signs that they never had the mandates they thought they had for several years. The election had been very thing to do with Dem overreach on identity politics and nothing about Trump. Yes, he is a horrible person, but people already knew that. That is how egregious people felt those politics were. Sure, they like Obamacare but they hate being told things like xyz so you must vote Dem otherwise you’re a self hating so and so, or MAGA, or racist, or misogynistic, or whatever.

Voters want balance and that’s why the same district will vote AOC and Trump.

I’m not happy about some things Trump will do, but the Dem meltdowns are entertaining. I will spend the next four years thinking, I told you so. I have very little empathy for people like OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I refuse to let the next 4 years of president Trump and the chaos he brings affect me mentally the way it did 2016-2020. My plan now is to just sit back and watch (sometimes with popcorn) - at least when I feel like tuning in. Since this is a DC based board I assume many of you, like me, understand and have concerns about the democratic norms he upends and the disruption he brings and you do not take our system of government for granted. But at this point it seems the American people - or about half of them - want this disruption.

My state of mind is to focus on what is right in front of me - family, friends and local community. I will watch with detached interest what public administration reforms, to put it lightly, these next 4 years will bring. What I won't do is freak out, get upset, or worry about every outrageous thing he says or does because in a way that is what drives his power. Plus, I don't want to.

Thoughts?

My sense is that there are many who feel the same way. What will be interesting is the MAGA troll response. The owning the libs thing is really 2020 and many have just moved on. It’s like MAGA is almost angry that Trump won and got all of congress. It will be difficult for them with no one to blame and with a lot fewer people throwing themselves into the breach.

For example, if he does another Muslim ban, I doubt people will turn out to the airports to protest and vocally stand up for the rights of Muslim Americans. Same if there’s another pandemic from China, the anti-Asian hate will not garner as much sympathy.

It’s like the buildup to Christmas, then Christmas Day…and then what comes after is immediately not as fun. They owned the libs, now have to do something productive with that power, and no longer have their Santa Claus to look forward to in the 2028 election. This is the final act.

[Anonymous]

Also checking out - but not getting apathetic. If democracy survives, I look forward to the renaissance.

Sometimes you have to let people make their own mistakes in order for them to learn. They’re about to learn a lot.

As long as he doesn’t begin any eugenics, we’ll stay and fight for democracy. But I will not let this $hit show band of criminals take my energy.

[Anonymous]

What people don't get is that they voted for him to have no restrictions. They gave it to him -- executive, legislative, judicial. You'd think SCOTUS would be the last stand to provide some sort of check or balance, but welp. Not so much.

And because they voted him back in, there isn't really a way to fix that, either.

There just isn't a route to oppose him without burning out and literally making no progress. Not on any big picture level. So Democrats will focus on local issues where they still have some venue and wait it out. Honestly, there isn't anything else effective to do.

That means deportations will happen even for people who don't think it may happen to them, but maybe some can be resisted or delayed long enough to make a difference. Not most, but maybe some.

Palestine is just going to have to deal with Trump and Netanyahu now. I don't know where that goes, but I don't think external checks or balances apply to it anymore. Ukraine will have to deal with Trump and Putin. Those aren't things Democrats have levers for anymore -- they just sawed them off in this election, so we have to acknowledge that.

Maybe things will be different in 2 years, or maybe 4 years. We'll see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I supported Harris for president but was ready to oppose many of her policies. I have similar issues with Trump. The Dems deserved to go down just as much as Trump. What is fascinating is how they missed so many obvious signs that they never had the mandates they thought they had for several years. The election had been very thing to do with Dem overreach on identity politics and nothing about Trump. Yes, he is a horrible person, but people already knew that. That is how egregious people felt those politics were. Sure, they like Obamacare but they hate being told things like xyz so you must vote Dem otherwise you’re a self hating so and so, or MAGA, or racist, or misogynistic, or whatever.

Voters want balance and that’s why the same district will vote AOC and Trump.

I’m not happy about some things Trump will do, but the Dem meltdowns are entertaining. I will spend the next four years thinking, I told you so. I have very little empathy for people like OP.

Okay? Sure thing, champ. Have at it.

[Anonymous]

I think this stance is easier if you are not one of the groups who will be impacted by Trump’s policies.