Preserving Sanity

Last week, I took a vacation from my real job. I hadn’t taken any time off since December and was starting to wake up in the middle of the night thinking about work. My plan was to be a slug: on the living room sofa, watching TV from the 1990’s. I did a lot of that and found it a great use of my time.

But neighbors stopped by to explain why they were apoplectic about President Biden and what might happen. (I AM a Block Captain!) I took a brief trip to the market in my “Together, we will defeat Trump. AGAIN.” tee-shirt, and spent time after being approached by other shoppers, equally beside themselves. All needed some comfort.

Perhaps you, too, are in need of comfort, or in need of knowing what to say to others.

Here is what I say.

First, I always ask if anyone is willing to vote for the Convicted Felon. NOT ONE PERSON who approached me is willing to do that, but they are paralyzed that he could win. NOT ONE PERSON is willing to change his/her/their vote away from Biden. If he is the candidate, they will vote for him no matter what. And my response is simple: “If you are still voting for President Biden, what makes you think others will not?” You can see some relief spread on the faces.

People are afraid of what OTHERS will do, not what they will do. There is a large amount of vote that is baked in, and we must grow that base. ALL OF US must help grow that base.

Although for now, the most important thing is preserving the sanity of the petrified amoungst us. One thing we can all do is take a slow, deep breath. Hold for 10 seconds, and exhale slowly. Repeat a few times.

Next, think in terms of facts. Actual facts. I can’t say it enough - if you haven’t yet, read Project 2025. Be ready with quips from the plan - like the fact that all public high school students will need to take a military entrance exam. This is only for PUBLIC high school students. They’ll need to know the best fighters for conscription purposes. Be ready to throw that fact at some MAGA head you run into, as in “I hope your kid will enjoy going straight from high school to the European theatre after Ukraine falls.” I find it preserves my sanity to practice quit hits against the enemy. (Yes, I have a list.)

Back in 2008, I worked on the Obama campaign. In addition to running phone banks, I went from place to place dropping off lit, and just talking to people at places like bars, supermarkets, gas stations…basically everywhere. And I got a lot of blowback from racists. So I figured out what to say, and I practiced. My response to their name calling was to look perplexed (I practiced in the mirror) and say: “I just have one question for you. When you go out at night with your friends, do you own your own hood, or are you still renting?” And then I would run like the wind.

By the way, my late dog Olivia also worked the 2008 campaign. She was head of security at the phone bank and oversaw the kids while I had their parents making calls.

You may not be the kind of person who will have a screaming match discussion with the enemy, but I am. Facts are helpful to me. Being able to rattle off the successes of the Biden-Harris administration and the failures of the felonious administration also are helpful to me.

At some point, we will know whether or not President Biden will be our candidate, and whether or not he is, we must be prepared to talk to voters. Facts are calming. Facts are good. Learn facts. Use the comments if there are specific things you want facts about.

For now, make sure that you have something that helps YOUR sanity. It could be a hobby, or a physical activity, or cake. (Cake normally helps everything.) For me, I rely on the best present my husband ever bought me: the complete boxed set of The West Wing. I’m not saying I’ve watched it multiple times, but I can recite whole episodes. I like it because it reminds me that there IS good government, comprised of people committed to doing the right thing. Sometimes they succeed, and sometimes they fail, but they never ever stop trying to make the world a better place. Joe Biden is the epitome of “good government”.

Find a way to preserve your sanity - we are going to need it next week as the GOP meets in Milwaukee. As an aside to show you bad these people are, today Nikki Haley released her delegates to vote for the Felon. She won’t be attending because they didn’t invite her. Read that again, and think it through.

Take a few days. Get sane. And then be ready to fight.

Sending all of you a giant hug through the ozone.