Are We Only in Remission?

 

Like many, I have been genuinely concerned about the future of our Democracy and the state of our nation. Witnessing the growing division and growth of partisan vitriol on both sides of any given issue was painful. The outcome of the election has produced an entirely different painful reaction. It feels like what a cancer patient must grapple with when they are informed that a new, experimental treatment can push their cancer into remission, but it could come back even more virulently. Do they rejoice and celebrate the good news or fear the possible return of the disease?

I have tried to understand how a large proportion of our citizens could overlook the obvious flaws of #45 and still endorse and embrace him. What could possibly prompt good people to decide that lying, cheating, bullying, abusing, manipulating, etc., etc., etc., were less important than (fill in the blank). I know many Trump supporters and I know they are not racist, misogynist, cheaters, liars, dishonest people. But they are willing to support someone who undeniably is. Why? What was so compelling that they looked the other way? What cancerous malaise invaded our population so that a man so narcissistic that he cannot recognize his own incompetence could not only aspire to the highest office in the land, but gain it?

I believe it was that very narcissism that clouded our ability to see beyond the boisterous braggadocio. We came to believe that it was about HIM. We failed to look behind the man, to excise his person from what his supporters think he represents for them. They did not vote for lying and cheating. They voted for what the lies promised them. Because his announcements were always about himself, about how great he is, how astounding his intelligence is, how respected he is, we failed to extract him from the lies and genuinely consider the reasons the lies resonated. Over 70 million people voted for a deeply flawed man AGAIN; that’s over 70 million people who wanted to believe the lies, KNOWING they are lies. If those who worked and prayed for an end to what was clearly a nightmare for us want to ensure that the cancer does not return, we must search for ways to treat the source of the cancer. We must root out the carcinogens that threaten our collective well-being. Those ranting, chanting hoards of rally goers are still out there. They still believe that government status quo ignores them. We better not.