I 'm not ready to talk to Trump voters about politics. I simply don't trust myself. I might cry. I still feel a raw sense of betrayal. Weren't we, Americans, better than this?
In the past three weeks, I've welcomed an easing of post-election heaviness. As in 2016, I am intentionally hosting joy and calm in my personal spaces: my home, my classroom, my mind.
I am redoubling my efforts to juggle clubs (you know you want to!) and teaching my grandbaby to find her eyes, her nose, her neck.
At school, I'm distributing little hand-shaped finger puppets to applaud good tries. We continue to laugh often.
In my mind, I am reciting small poems and remembering the smell of homemade bread from my childhood.
These are good things to do, regardless of election results. But in this moment my actions are attempts to protect my anxious heart. And even if the purpose is understandable, the time I spend buffering myself from reality is time Project 2025 unfurls without my resistance. My desire to tuck my head gently under my wing conflicts with what history tells us: silence is the friend of tyranny.
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This is all to say that I realize I'm hiding from what comes next. The president-elect is daring Republicans to refuse his flagrantly abominable appointments. The world is responding to his tariff grenades with outrage. Mainstream media is quietly falling into line. Billionaires are lining up for Mar-a-Lago tet-a-tets.
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I was a highly distractible student, but a few things from Mr. Carr's civics class have stayed with me: democracy, distribution of power, rule of law.
How much of democracy's tenets are Trump voters willing to abdicate? I want to ask.
And I want to hear their answers without crying.
Enough.
Be well.
Write.
Allison
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