By Terry Manning
Another member of my fan club wrote me:
“You know MAGA is going to own liberals over the next 4 years. I am so excited for [Inauguration Day]. Liberal resistance will be a whimper of useless lies.”
Now, if there’s anything Trump supporters know — and love — it’s lies, and I started to make that point enthusiastically to this reader, but I caught myself.
Most people who send me letters can attest that I will respond with a courtesy thank you to them for taking the time to read the column and sharing their thoughts. I even do this for people who criticize me. But not this time.
I simply replied, “Happy New Year! It’s good to hear from you. Reminds me to update my junk filter.”
At a time when outrage is the most obvious reaction to what’s going on, I am choosing to protect my peace. It is not easy.
All those people who were offended by Hillary Clinton calling them “deplorables?” Who got upset when Barack Obama talked about how they expressed frustrations by turning to guns, religion, and anti-immigrant sentiment? Who complained they were tired of Democrats forcing their values onto them? Who claimed to hate big government? Who turned red in the face every time race was mentioned? Who voted for the guy who promised to lower the price of eggs?
All that’s gone out the window because they won.
They haven’t forgotten the promise of lowering the price of eggs and other goods, but if it’s not a priority for Trump, then it’s not a priority for them.
They codify the removal of diversity, equity, and inclusiveness from every sphere of public life because that will prove racism doesn’t exist. And children don’t need to learn about the bad old days when it did, do they?
They halt the communication of public health information, because who wants to bother knowing about the growing threat of bird flu when we can be fighting over getting fluoride out of our water? And whatever the next pandemic is, we don’t want to have to take a vaccine for it anyway, right?
They tell transgender people they will no longer be recognized as transgendered or people. Because they don’t like gays or lesbians or transgender or anything to do with all that. That’s not forcing values, that’s just common sense, right?
They expel immigrants and cut aid to the poor, because that’s what Christian nations do, right?
They stroll into coffee shops with assault rifles draped over their shoulders, because your “safe spaces” mean less to them than their right to bear arms. And more guns would solve all our problems, wouldn’t they?
There are a lot of commentators on the left who populate timelines and social media feeds every day with outraged content or content that betrays an anger simmering just below the surface about what’s going on in our country.
I’m trying to be selective in what I read and by whom. Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American continues to be a needed source for context. She looks at the present and the nation’s history and connects the dots for her readers.
South Carolina native Michael Harriot’s ContrabandCamp is a vital read. Not only is he not afraid to talk about race and racism, but he does it in a way that shames all sides for not having the depth of information he brings to bear.
Economist Paul Krugman, who left The New York Times to set up shop on Substack, talks economics, but he also speaks with passion about the Trump Administration’s early missteps. His outlook on the near future is far from optimistic.
Dara Tucker, Robert Reich, Dixon White, Keith Boykin, and others are voices I will give audience, but I know when it’s time to unplug.
If any of us needed a cautionary tale against becoming mired in the crosstalk, one was delivered recently by Solomon Henderson, the Nashville teenager who shot two classmates. He killed one before turning the gun on himself.
In writings, he credited outspoken Black conservative Candace Owens for inspiring the self-hatred that drove his actions. Authorities also found messages from Henderson spouting antisemitism and denying the Holocaust.
Hate of any kind is destructive to young minds and old ones, too, potentially for the hated and definitely for the hater. My faith tells me not to hate anyone.
So Donald Trump can make life feel like hell for some of us, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction when his days are done of looking up to find me sitting in Hell with him.
Terry E. Manning is a Clemson graduate who worked for 20 years as a journalist. He can be reached at teemanning@gmail.com.
