Almost exactly five months ago, Donald Trump left our White House. Count me among those who could not breathe a sigh of relief that he really would leave until he departed the grounds, climbed on Marine One and exited Air Force One in Florida.
I’d like to say I’ve been able to relax since then with the arrival of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Surely there have been no mind-bending daily outrages. But with the dark residue of January 6 and the refusal of most Republicans to acknowledge the Big Lie of election fraud and commit to securing our democracy—quite the opposite—I’ve understood that we need to redouble our efforts to strengthen the community dedicated to limiting GOP power and ensure that justice is served.
Yet we would be remiss to ignore the many ways life has improved. So share your thoughts: How has your life improved since Trump was evicted? Perhaps you want to focus on changes President Biden has made. Perhaps you want to talk about the concrete ways you’ve felt less anxiety, fear or hopelessness. But I’d be awfully surprised if anyone here doesn’t have something to say. I look forward to hearing what’s on your mind.
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I wish I felt more relieved than I do. We can’t restore our democracy without holding the previous administration accountable for its wrongdoing. Biden doesn’t seem interested nor, really, does Garland. It’s dispiriting.
The unending assault on established cultural norms, decency, civility, competence, trust, and truth are the common tools of demoralization campaigns.
It is warfare in its most pernicious and insidious form.
Four years is a long time and the damage to our democracy is significant.
For now, the figurehead of the assault, being removed, has let us believe that we are in a kind of "remission", always a reason for immense relief and gratitude.
As a cancer survivor, I believe that a system healthy enough to fight has the best chance of survival by staying positive, optimizing healthy behaviors, staying well informed, and keeping eyes, heart, and mind on the ultimate goal; the restoration of full health.
Staying mindful that disease is always stalking its opportunity.
I no longer feel depressed and I now have hope for this country and our Democracy. While the danger to our Democracy still exists I have hope we can save it
I am not missing the sense of outrage at the daily lying. I am proud of the person restoring decency, normalcy and empathy to our government. I am relieved each time President Biden undoes damage created by the previous administration. He represents ME unlike any GOP every would.
My life has improved because COVID19 is being handled more competently, but I feel more anxiety now than before Trump faded into the background. With that malignant figure out of the limelight it’s become clearer than ever that Trump is a symptom not the disease. The whole Repug Party is diseased and right wing media is a roaring whirlwind spreading the germs everywhere. Unfortunately Dem politicians and what’s left of normal corporate media don’t seem to understand the urgency of our situation. Maybe they don’t really care. They’ll mostly be fine with the end of what’s left of our never completely democratic system. Multicultural democracy may just be too hard. It’s so distressing!
As a retiree, I was hoping we were done with all the craziness and I could just relish my freedom after 48 years of hard work. I "took" the month of January to completely enjoy having grown-ups in power again, but come February I realized all the Bubbas and Bubbellas were still drunk on Fat Boy's lies, so I stay vigilant.
I got vaccinated against COVID 19 and now can dare to hope. I'm in respiratory failure and would be unlikely to survive pneumonia. On a less personal level, I have more hope for humanity now that sane people are in charge of the US government. The Biden/Harris administration has been a marvel of accomplishments already less than 200 days in.
It’s so nice to not hear idiotic comments, statements, and accusations on a daily basis. However, i live in AZ; the land of nonstop vote counting expecting a different outcome. So i do get a dose of the insanity that surrounds the failed other guy!
So enjoyable to see a couple that really like each other! Yet, both are confident in their own knowledge and do not need to lean on the other. Their affection is not an act!
I enjoy seeing our national reputation improving. It broke my heart seeing our enemies snuggled up to after losing my father and an uncle to ending the nightmare of Hitler. I am deeply troubled how easily so many of our citizens swallowed the kool aid and how close we came to losing it all on 01/06. It has made me more dedicated to voting, involvement in my party and what it stands for.
best thing for me...i can sleep at night!!! i don't jump out of bed to hear the news as to what that lowlife Trump did or said to embarrass our country with his idiotic and racist antics!! WOW...that was the lowest of lows in politics EVER!!!!
I no longer wake up with dreading looking at the news, afraid that he had launched a war overnight. I’m still terrified that we won’t manage to hold onto our democracy and that the tensions between QTrumpers and white nationalists and the rest of our country will turn into a modern day civil war. I don’t think the Democratic leadership get that their relative silence will give the other party an easy victory in 2022. It’s a different kind of existential threat than during the previous administration but it’s still a very real threat.
The lives of ALL Americans have improved since Joe Biden became president. If Trump had remained in the White House there’s no way half the country would be inoculated against Covid-19 as we are, with daily infections and deaths at lower levels than we’ve seen in a year and a half. Under Trump we couldn’t figure out the logistics of testing or PPE distribution. If he were still Prez individual states would still be clamoring and competing for vaccine. We need sustained effort to reach the vaccine-hesitant, but Joe Biden truly cares that we, as a country, expend that effort; Donald Trump didn’t give a shiz.
I was in joyful tears, watching the inauguration. I had a sense of hope, that I hadn't felt in a long time. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last long once I realized that trump still controlled the entire Republican party, to the point that they are now denying what we all saw with our own eyes, and what they actually experienced, first hand, on 1/6. It takes a special kind of diabolical evil to do that, and our country isn't going to be safe until there is accountability for everyone involved, from trump on down. I do appreciate the fact that, under President Biden, COVID is doing so much better in states that haven't been in denial since it began. Lives have literally been saved because of his administration. I enjoy the fact that when I go on Twitter, I don't have to hold my breath to see if trump had said or done something horrible, or tried to destroy someone or something, like the Postal Service, which still needs to be taken care of, btw. Anyway, I'm not as horrified as I was before, but, there's still work to be done.
My life has improved 100 fold. My anxiety and fear is diminished and has been replaced with a renewed sense of pride in our country, albeit, slower than I'd like. I'm cognizant enough to know that it will take a while before our country is out of danger from TFG lingering in the background. I am more hopeful that his "dynasty" days are over. What I would like is a mature Republican party who holds its colleagues more accountable. That party is an embarrassment to the US.
Even up North from Canada, less day-to-day anxiety about the US President's declarations, acts, decisions, etc., but more and more related to multiple efforts by the other party to get rid of the democratic freamework in the countr: by still sticking to the BIG LIE, by refusing through all possible means to look further into the Jan. 06 events, promoting voters suppression legislations and regulations tabled almost everywhere in the Great Republic to the South. All this looks like a replay of the Secession War, with more or less brutal means.
My life has improved because now the news media, Twitter and the like are all much calmer. I no longer look as often either. There has been a great deal of hope in America. We are a resilient nation after all!
I wish I felt more relieved than I do. We can’t restore our democracy without holding the previous administration accountable for its wrongdoing. Biden doesn’t seem interested nor, really, does Garland. It’s dispiriting.
The unending assault on established cultural norms, decency, civility, competence, trust, and truth are the common tools of demoralization campaigns.
It is warfare in its most pernicious and insidious form.
Four years is a long time and the damage to our democracy is significant.
For now, the figurehead of the assault, being removed, has let us believe that we are in a kind of "remission", always a reason for immense relief and gratitude.
As a cancer survivor, I believe that a system healthy enough to fight has the best chance of survival by staying positive, optimizing healthy behaviors, staying well informed, and keeping eyes, heart, and mind on the ultimate goal; the restoration of full health.
Staying mindful that disease is always stalking its opportunity.
I probably sleep better. However, with Trump lingering in the background, I can't totally relax.
I no longer feel depressed and I now have hope for this country and our Democracy. While the danger to our Democracy still exists I have hope we can save it
I am not missing the sense of outrage at the daily lying. I am proud of the person restoring decency, normalcy and empathy to our government. I am relieved each time President Biden undoes damage created by the previous administration. He represents ME unlike any GOP every would.
My life has improved because COVID19 is being handled more competently, but I feel more anxiety now than before Trump faded into the background. With that malignant figure out of the limelight it’s become clearer than ever that Trump is a symptom not the disease. The whole Repug Party is diseased and right wing media is a roaring whirlwind spreading the germs everywhere. Unfortunately Dem politicians and what’s left of normal corporate media don’t seem to understand the urgency of our situation. Maybe they don’t really care. They’ll mostly be fine with the end of what’s left of our never completely democratic system. Multicultural democracy may just be too hard. It’s so distressing!
As a retiree, I was hoping we were done with all the craziness and I could just relish my freedom after 48 years of hard work. I "took" the month of January to completely enjoy having grown-ups in power again, but come February I realized all the Bubbas and Bubbellas were still drunk on Fat Boy's lies, so I stay vigilant.
I, too, live in AZ. Hopefully we can elect a Democrat for Governor so we can truly relax. And also not be embarrassed.
But I am so happy to not be grinding my teeth. I also don’t have to take an extra pill everyday to calm down. My heart has stopped racing.
I got vaccinated against COVID 19 and now can dare to hope. I'm in respiratory failure and would be unlikely to survive pneumonia. On a less personal level, I have more hope for humanity now that sane people are in charge of the US government. The Biden/Harris administration has been a marvel of accomplishments already less than 200 days in.
It’s so nice to not hear idiotic comments, statements, and accusations on a daily basis. However, i live in AZ; the land of nonstop vote counting expecting a different outcome. So i do get a dose of the insanity that surrounds the failed other guy!
So enjoyable to see a couple that really like each other! Yet, both are confident in their own knowledge and do not need to lean on the other. Their affection is not an act!
I enjoy seeing our national reputation improving. It broke my heart seeing our enemies snuggled up to after losing my father and an uncle to ending the nightmare of Hitler. I am deeply troubled how easily so many of our citizens swallowed the kool aid and how close we came to losing it all on 01/06. It has made me more dedicated to voting, involvement in my party and what it stands for.
So, I’m guarded but encouraged!
I just wrote my own blog post about my feelings.
Hope and Worry https://iam.fahrni.me/2021/06/19/hope-and-worry/
best thing for me...i can sleep at night!!! i don't jump out of bed to hear the news as to what that lowlife Trump did or said to embarrass our country with his idiotic and racist antics!! WOW...that was the lowest of lows in politics EVER!!!!
I no longer wake up with dreading looking at the news, afraid that he had launched a war overnight. I’m still terrified that we won’t manage to hold onto our democracy and that the tensions between QTrumpers and white nationalists and the rest of our country will turn into a modern day civil war. I don’t think the Democratic leadership get that their relative silence will give the other party an easy victory in 2022. It’s a different kind of existential threat than during the previous administration but it’s still a very real threat.
The lives of ALL Americans have improved since Joe Biden became president. If Trump had remained in the White House there’s no way half the country would be inoculated against Covid-19 as we are, with daily infections and deaths at lower levels than we’ve seen in a year and a half. Under Trump we couldn’t figure out the logistics of testing or PPE distribution. If he were still Prez individual states would still be clamoring and competing for vaccine. We need sustained effort to reach the vaccine-hesitant, but Joe Biden truly cares that we, as a country, expend that effort; Donald Trump didn’t give a shiz.
I am so grateful that President Biden addressed Covid head on, and that we had a true patriot representing us at the Summit.
I was in joyful tears, watching the inauguration. I had a sense of hope, that I hadn't felt in a long time. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last long once I realized that trump still controlled the entire Republican party, to the point that they are now denying what we all saw with our own eyes, and what they actually experienced, first hand, on 1/6. It takes a special kind of diabolical evil to do that, and our country isn't going to be safe until there is accountability for everyone involved, from trump on down. I do appreciate the fact that, under President Biden, COVID is doing so much better in states that haven't been in denial since it began. Lives have literally been saved because of his administration. I enjoy the fact that when I go on Twitter, I don't have to hold my breath to see if trump had said or done something horrible, or tried to destroy someone or something, like the Postal Service, which still needs to be taken care of, btw. Anyway, I'm not as horrified as I was before, but, there's still work to be done.
My life has improved 100 fold. My anxiety and fear is diminished and has been replaced with a renewed sense of pride in our country, albeit, slower than I'd like. I'm cognizant enough to know that it will take a while before our country is out of danger from TFG lingering in the background. I am more hopeful that his "dynasty" days are over. What I would like is a mature Republican party who holds its colleagues more accountable. That party is an embarrassment to the US.
Even up North from Canada, less day-to-day anxiety about the US President's declarations, acts, decisions, etc., but more and more related to multiple efforts by the other party to get rid of the democratic freamework in the countr: by still sticking to the BIG LIE, by refusing through all possible means to look further into the Jan. 06 events, promoting voters suppression legislations and regulations tabled almost everywhere in the Great Republic to the South. All this looks like a replay of the Secession War, with more or less brutal means.
My life has improved because now the news media, Twitter and the like are all much calmer. I no longer look as often either. There has been a great deal of hope in America. We are a resilient nation after all!