It just needs to be said.
My role as a physician is to try to provide care and make your lives a bit easier, a bit more enjoyable, a bit less painful. I have so much left to learn there. And, I suppose I should just stay in my lane here, “just dribble.”
I know everyone gets uncomfortable when we start talking politics. I know that some of us have come to feel so passionate about some things, that we feel a bit frantic about it sometimes. Meanwhile, some of us chose a long time ago to stop paying attention altogether.
But my friends, I think we have a problem that only talking about will fix. That is why we need to talk for a minute about our President. and him threatening genocide, threatening to “blow up the whole country” of Iran, On Easter Sunday!
And today warning, “A whole civilization will die tonight.”.
This is not ok. This is not normal- until, it is! We can no longer enable this mind in its pursuit of power, control, and “being right” to resort to murder, or threats of murder to prove it. NO! This is far from ok.
This man is not well. In my medicine, his shen is disturbed. His spirit is disturbed. He needs help, not power. He is not a leader of people. He tears us from one another cultivating hate, and promoting violence as the answer for those that disagree. Imagine for a moment what that mind will have to do when it is cornered into having to accept failure.
To you, my neighbors, and colleagues, and friends. To all of you who have supported my work and welcomed me into this Fargo-Moorhead village, thank you. I know this can feel uncomfortable. I know that we would all rather be paying attention to something else. But difficult conversations is what we all need to be willing to start having- or the suffering will only grow and envelope those you love. It is my job to ease suffering, and at a minimum, cause no further harm.
So, let’s agree. This is not acceptable!
This is not who we were back when America was focused on “great” ideals. This is not who we were when our ancestors came to this land—whether that was 40,000 years ago or 2. We all came to this land so that our families could be a bit more comfortable. A bit more at ease. Like all good people of all traditions, colors, and faiths, we came for lives where we can all “pursue happiness”—and choose our representatives.
HAPPINESS!
This man will not get us there. He only knows how to destroy, and name enemies. He has lost joy and the ability to laugh—a disturbed spirit.
Have you ever seen Tump in joyous laughter, even if only for moments? You know the laughter I am talking about. The kind that takes over the body a bit and feels hard to corral. This laughter almost always involves someone else, if not a few others, and your collective laughter creates this feedback loop where you have to avoid looking at each other because the laughter feels relentless. But then you let your mind recall what was funny, and the snowball starts rolling downhill again.
We need that right now. We need that laughter between friends. We have better things to do than worry about that next bit of chaos Trump will bring into our lives. There is enough stuff to do in a day already. Talking with a Senator, or Representative who should know better is sad, tedious, and demoralizing.
I believe that no longer knowing how to find laughter in life is directly correlated with no longer being able to imagine a restored peaceful, and collective future. When the psychic switch is turned toward fear, the imagination becomes riddled with demons and no one can be trusted. Fear is contagious, but so are dreams.
We have better futures to build. We have grander visions to manifest. Let’s be done with this Trump nightmare and begin trying to make the world a bit better than it was this morning.
I’ll meet you at the buckthorn!
Robert
