Trump Keeps Losing So Why Do I Feel So Bad?

Imagine that the American Health Care Act was a gigantic rocket on a launch pad.  It was advertised to be the most superb rocket ever designed.  Once fired it was going to shoot up into space and deploy countless anti-Obamacare Republican Tie? fighters.  They would destroy the imperial edicts of the evil former president and anything that  was left of the collapsing  health care boondoggle would be blown to smithereens! It would be a beautiful display and everyone on the ground would be crying tears of joy as they chanted, "We Love Trump Bigly!" Unfortunately, when the countdown got to the end and the launch button was pushed, a huge flag popped out of the nosecone that read, “Just kidding!"

For millions and millions of Americans (some counts as high as 24,000,000) people let out a huge sigh of relief.  People were slapping each other on the backs and giving each other high-fives.  And that celebration went on for at least several minutes before everyone began to start feeling like crap once again.  Sadly it only took that long for people to realize that in the Age of Trump, it will take hundreds of these types of failures to bring his reign to its much anticipated end.

This realization should come as no surprise to anyone that has attempted to do something that is very large in scope and fraught with difficult tasks along the way.  I liken it to overcoming poverty and becoming the first person in a family going on to graduate from college.  Or maybe for you it is more akin to fighting a chronic illness.  For every step you make forward there is the realization that the fight is not over and that there are greater hurdles to face in the near future.  Some of these challenges may appear out of nowhere and they may have never been anticipated.  It is hard damned work.  Despite the criticism from the right that progressives need trophies for every success they may encounter, we are acutely aware that the only reward is in the future and possibly the seemingly far off future will only come when Trump is gone and the bleak shadow of corporate control of our once great democracy has been thwarted.

We feel badly because we care deeply.  We want to have a second chance at leading our country back to its rightful place as the world’s strongest democracy.  We know we became complacent and that the mistakes we made in our past are now exacting a price from the present.  We fear for the children who must face the challenges of the future.  We are beside ourselves with angst about the health of our planet and its environment.  In short, we have become painfully aware of the seriousness of now.  It is only logical that we will be on an emotional roller coaster until such time as we take our country away from plutocrats and ideologues who have hijacked the system.

This is the time where we must channel our remorse into resolve.  This is the difficult task of converting fear into courage.  This is the moment when we must rise above selfishness and replace it with altruism.

We need to do our best to celebrate our victories, never losing sight of the larger prize.  This is the time when we must take care of ourselves so that we remain strong in the greater campaign.  We must reach out and help those who have become discouraged and are feeling defeated.  We owe this to what Lyndon Johnson referred to as our Great American Society.  This is what we must do in order to make America what it was designed to be, not dismantle it into President Trump's perverted vision of greatness.

So the answer to the initial question of this blog posting, "Trump keeps losing so why do I feel so bad?" is painfully clear.  The reason we feel so bad is that we are coming to grips with the knowledge on just how far we have fallen and just how far we have to go.  Stay strong, brothers and sisters.  Together we will prevail.