I despise Trump with the heat of a thousand suns but America desperately needs healing.
We have become a bitter nation. There are always people with no firm convictions that will go with the wind. Trump brought in the illest of winds, and he has affected these people. This in addition to those who always harbored ill intentions towards their fellow Americans makes the situation all the more toxic.
When Trump is gone we need a Truth And Reconciliation Commission like they had in post- apartheid South Africa.
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And now, ultra far right wing social media. As long as those three things coexist, expect another Trump or even worse. 
It's not our fault for how we have responded/reacted to the events and horrors and trauma and embarrassment and anger. Hell yeah "we have become a bitter nation"!! Rightly so. We deserve to be!
All I'm saying is that it's the MAGAts that need to come around, not the other way around. Fuck them! (And while I'm at it... let me just add: FUCK SUSAN SARANDON, too!)
There are always people with no firm convictions that will go with the wind. Trump brought in the illest of winds, and he has affected these people. This in addition to those who always harbored ill intentions towards their fellow Americans makes the situation all the more toxic.
You seem to have developed some animus toward me and that animus manifests itself in twisting my words and mischaracterizing them in the most negative light. I will be the bigger person, take the high road, and not respond in kind.
Is THAT what you consider to be "animus toward you"?? Really? --- All I can tell you is that I was very clear in criticizing only the message, and I never said a negative word about you personally.
If you believe attributing to me sentiments which I emphatically do not hold, that those who worship at the orange altar and those who oppose Trump with every fiber of their being are somehow on the same moral plane, is not an attack on me personally there is nothing I can do to disabuse you of that notion.
To dispense with the highfalutin language and use a shopworn colloquialism I think Trump's rabid supporters are scum.
The culture is like a well. We all drink from the same well Trump has poisoned it. The nation is bitter and broken.
If you've been misunderstood, then you're certainly welcome to clarify... but there's no need to claim you're the victim of some "animus" or that it's an "attack on you personally" simply because your words lacked clarity. Disagreeing with you is not "animus" nor is it an "attack".
I'll go one further... I think his tepid and lukewarm supporters are scum too. I'll not extend any courtesy or gesture of kindness toward them that only serves to validate or reinforce their stupidity or bigotry. I'll not meet them halfway. I'll not accept part of the blame either.
There was nothing in my seminal post that suggests I believe that anybody but Trump and his rabid devotees are responsible for the toxic atmosphere we unfortunately find ourselves in. The fact you or anybody can infer that I did is beyond incomprehensible.
The South African apartheid regime imprisoned Nelson Mandela and robbed him of twenty seven years of his life yet he was able to see past his own hurt and formed the The Truth and Reconciliation Commission to bind the wounds apartheid did to his people and nation. As Martin Luther king mused " Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
May we "bind up the nation's wounds". Let us be called the children of light.
They are the ones who need to apologize and make amends. THAT will be the "light". I won't offer any sort of blanket-forgiveness to anyone who doesn't first seek it sincerely. NO FREE PASSES! No "it was partially out fault too".
Obviously THEY aren't going to make the first gesture. Clearly there are only two sides here: Us and Them. So if we know for a fact that THEY will never budge, then your message is one that's suggesting that WE should be the ones to take some high road and validate them.
Not only NO, but HELL NO! Screw them! I'd rather drink an earthworm smoothie.
No! Fuck them! No free passes! No apologies. No validations. No sympathies. No high road.
"We go high" is a sign of weakness. "We forgive you" is a sign of weakness. Forgiving those who don't ask to be forgiven is a sign of weakness. Taking equal blame for some "political misunderstanding" is a sign of weakness. Using the language and subtleties of the "both sides" philosophy is a sign of weakness.
I think it's a mistake to encourage people to do things that invite the other side to exploit and take advantage of the situation. We will only win through strength and by destroying our enemies.
No more hand-holding. No more hugs. No more kisses on their forehead.
Fuck them!
Russia has control over so many people in high places? Do we think Faux news is going to call for healing? Limbo?
There can be no healing until we get rid of all the traitors and we get a new wave of decent people like Beto O'Rourke in office. The decent conservatives can join us or form their own party.
"When trump is gone" he won't be taking the Kochs, the Adelsons, the Princes, the Mercers, the 62 million white supremacists with him. The (R) brand is tainted and we need to make sure it remains so for a long time.
The (R)s would put the boot on our throats if the roles were reversed. They would show us no mercy.
It's time for decent people to take over. Join us or you can stay with your bigotry, white supremacy and misogyny. We've got a planet to save. 
It has the linguistic effect of acknowledging but negating the evilness that is Trump in favor of a philosophy that suggests that "both sides" are at fault and that SOMEONE needs to give-way in order to break a stalemate... even worse, that it should be OUR side to willingly present our underbellies in a show of weakness (that will surely be exploited) by offering forgiveness to them... something that they have not asked for, and something that is not deserved. All this, of course, is only for the bragging rights and being able to boast about "going high" even though, strategically, it is of zero value, especially in consideration of the certain knowledge that such a weakness will be taken advantage of every time.
At least, I think I do. What I'm hearing is, "America is hurt and we should ALL work towards a healing." Am I right?
Let's take this in parts:
"Trump brought in the illest of winds"
Some would say that these "illest of winds" have always been here and were simply used, not brought, by dolt45. In other words, those feelings and sentiments have always been a part of our society. One political party has been carefully cultivating those ill winds since 1964, so we shouldn't surprised that a tRump would rise from their ranks. So, they'll have to make a decision, as a party, about what to do on that front.
"There are always people with no firm convictions that will go with the wind."
I can not say that this is true since study after study has shown that the vast majority of Agent Orange's supporters are united in one thing, across the board. Race (fear of the other) was the "one ring" that united them all!
Not sure what can be done to assuage their fears. If I'm honest, I'm probably not the one to tackle that. Maybe their more liberal family members can reach out or something... I'm much more interested in working on policy prescriptions which would provide more opportunities for diversity to thrive. Changing hearts and minds will come, eventually.
"This in addition to those who always harbored ill intentions towards their fellow Americans makes the situation all the more toxic."
This, a thousand times over! The original sins of this country have lingered for a very specific reason. People are benefiting from the current system. There's a reason Mango Mussolini constantly reaches for the brightest object of racial transgression, it works to solidify his power among his base.
"we need a Truth And Reconciliation Commission "
I do like this idea, a lot. Here's the rub though, how many folks are ready to hear the truth? How many people think coal is coming back or that the Clintons killed Vince Foster? How many people believe that climate change is a hoax and that their jobs no longer exist installing asbestos because of NAFTA? You have an entire network of "news" that feeds constant lies to the American populace.
Exhibit A:
People are choosing their truth. Here's an example of a tRump supporter being confronted with truth....
It's not pretty.
How are you going to sit at the table with someone who doesn't agree that there is even a table in existence?
I agree, America needs to have a talk. We are going to have to course correct, and soon. The middle 38% of the country having more power than the surrounding and decidedly larger costal area, is not tenable. Power in our congress is decidedly white and conservative, not particularly reflective of the country.
We do need to talk, but to what end?
I say we work on changing laws by first electing democrats across the country. Fighting in every race, from dog catcher to President, will be a key part of our strategy.We should pass laws that meet the needs of the people and keep in communication (town halls, emails, mailers, larger events) with them. Staying as dogged in our agenda as the cons are in their own. That's what needs to happen. Some conversation, too.
America, however, isn't broken. Sure, her laws and systems are stacked and packed with our original sins. But her people.... we can never be broken. We are each making a declaration of what it means to be American. Since we are so many, it's a bit messy. Okay, actually, it's pretty ugly. All of America's growing pains have been ugly. Colonization, Independence, Civil War, Ending Reconstruction, Women's Rights, Desegregation, Civil Rights, Gay Rights.....whatever the heck THIS is.....is an ugly process. We're going to emerge as a better nation after this period of growth. We have to believe that.
I really admire your signature line. Love is the only way to beat hate.
Cheers, friend. I pray that your weekend gets better than it has started. 
