Resist attempts at normalization

Words matter. This notion that campaign rhetoric is meaningless is disturbing for several reasons. The implication is that you either voted for someone you thought was spewing nonsense, or that you believed his irresponsible and dangerous rhetoric and wanted to see him follow through on it.

We're losing a president who was thoughtful, kind, compassionate, intelligent, and had a sense of humor. We didn't have to agree with all of his policy decisions to realize he was, at heart, a good man. We're trading him in for a bully, a misogynist, a racist, a man who played off of people's fears of the Other to ride a wave of hate into office.

His rhetoric is now being normalized all over the place. That's dangerous. He and others need to be held accountable for what they say. Words have meaning and impact. Chances are the people who don't see this now, will see it in time once the president-elect fails to follow through on any of his unrealistic promises.

It's been a strange week. We're all still processing, on both sides. There's an awful lot of hate being spewed by people who feel they "won" something here. People who are grieving are not only grieving for themselves or their families and friends, they're grieving for the people he conned into electing him. He looks overwhelmed already. His appointments have been frightening so far.

This divide right now is the worst we've seen in a long time. There's a lot of talk about healing, moving forward. That's a luxury to most, and that sort of sentiment is rooted in privilege. That's what got us into this mess in the first place. To paraphrase Dave Chappelle, an internet troll will be our next president. Think about that.

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