As Rooster Cogburn said “I am grown old.” I’ve lived through the horror of the Kennedy assassination, Nixon’s resignation, Carter’s humiliation, Clinton’s disgrace, Bush’s frittering away of the American hegemony and Obama’s deconstruction of its greatness. I no longer harbor any illusions about happily ever after. When Trump reaches the White House we will witness a wave of vitriol unleashed by the left that will infect every stratum of American life. Their drumbeat of accusation will be relentless and exhausting. Even if Trump manages to achieve much of what he intends and even if this corresponds to what I want done it will not be fun. It will be akin to fighting the hydra, a multi-headed monster that refuses to die. It will be exhausting.
And that brings me to my thesis. Thanks to Donald Trump (and divine Providence) for allowing us a holiday season before the ordeal. I will take the opportunity to celebrate and spend time with family and friends, to eat, drink and be merry. In fact, I’ll go one better. I have close relatives who are committed progressives. They are probably extremely dejected over the election loss. If the conversation turned to the subject of the election it would probably cause them lots of discomfort. So, for that reason I will make a point of not discussing the election or Trump. If anyone else does I will not join in and instead attempt to steer it away from this subject.
Why? After all, the schadenfreude would be considerable. These folks had taken great pleasure in Obama’s every disruption of American life. They had indulged in the vilification of Bush during the Iraq War. They thoroughly deserve to be gloated at. They’ve richly earned it. Why won’t I do it? Because it’s too dangerous.
I’m becoming convinced that an open breach is building up in America. There will be some pretty powerful hate unleashed on both side of this divide. Many friendships and families will be torn up and I want to do whatever I can to steer it away from my family. I have seen what happen once you let the genie out of the bottle. You can’t unsay things. The poison remains in the wound and never fully heals over. Some people say that this is a better way to handle these political differences, to have your say and walk away from the other side and not come back. I don’t agree.
I have always felt that family is the absolute bedrock foundation of life. Turning your back on a brother or sister was tantamount to gnawing off a limb, an act that can only be justified if your very life is at stake but still so awful that the survival is a pyrrhic victory. And the election has been so ugly and the anger has been so corrosive that it would only take a few rounds of escalating rhetoric to blow up a holiday gathering into a political hate fest.
So, that is why if someone tells me that Donald Trump stole the election from Hillary and that he is not her president I will answer, “okay, but please pass the mashed potatoes, and here are the candied yams for your side of the aisle… I mean table.”
I’ll save my venom and scorn for the internet trolls who work for Soros and endlessly opine on the evil of white privilege, misogyny and the plight of the downtrodden. I promise not to give them a single inch. And I’ll continue to post all through the holidays to rally the troops. But I’ll preserve a truce at the holiday table.
Happy Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years to both patriots and progressives. Season’s greetings to all the families out there. Rest up and enjoy. Next year is going to be extremely busy. Eat, drink and be merry. You’re going to need it.