On Being Right
We all like being right, right?
We all like being right, right? (Ok, maybe I’m just speaking for myself.)
In normal times I prefer being right to being wrong. Not righteous or gloating, mind you— just pleased with having made the correct call.
Even though righteousness isn’t an attractive trait, sometimes you can’t help yourself. Like when your kids start tearing around the house at bedtime, laughing hysterically at their crazy made-up game…”I’m warning you!” you shout. “Stop it right now or someone’s going to get hurt!” And then BLAM! they crash into each other and the wailing begins…
I feel like that mother today, shouting into the void about the coming disaster if the former president gets re-elected.
[When he asks “if you’re better off today than when he was president,” remember that 81 million people voted him OUT of office in 2020, because we were NOT better off.]
I have typed my fingers down to the last bloody knuckle cataloguing Trump’s vengeful rhetoric, his hateful threats, his voluminous lies, and his criminal misdeeds. I’ve screeched about his disdain for the rule of law, for science, for those who serve in the military, and for anyone who doesn’t suck up to him. I watch his rallies and note that his MAGA fans get most excited when he talks about locking up those evil lefties and rounding up those vermin aliens.
I’ve been warning you that he cares about only three things:
Keeping his sorry ass out of prison
Boosting his fragile ego by hanging with gajillionaires like Elon Musk and dictators like Putin (who clearly recognize Trump as an easy mark)
Basking in the attention and power of the presidency.
He does not give a shit about governance, or about the little people like you and me, but he LOVES the gullible—the ones who show up at his rallies, shouting “Lock Her Up” and buying his made-in-China gold sneakers and printed-in-China MAGA Bibles.
If he is re-elected he will be the nation’s worst nightmare. Hundreds of legitimate investigations, going back decades, indicate I’m right when I call him a con-man. Dozens of people who once worked for him confirm that I’m right—including two generals, who call him a dangerous fascist. Scores of former Republicans say I’m right.
So here’s the thing.
In the case of this crucial election, I DO NOT WANT TO BE RIGHT. I don’t want to crow “I told you so” to those of you who fell for Trump, or who voted for Jill Stein, or wrote in Ronald Reagan, or didn’t bother to vote.
I’m so worried about being right I’ve had to haul out my Legos as a distraction.
So, if Trump wins, don’t complain to me when your food prices skyrocket, you’re left without a construction crew/nursing staff/childcare provider/restaurant staff because our migrant workers have been deported.* Don’t complain when the professionals who staff our government agencies have been replaced by untrained Trump-vetted toadies who demolish our clean air policies/public health agencies/emergency management systems.* Don’t whine when you can’t get gynecological care because all the OB/GYNs have left your state or shed tears when your daughter dies of an ectopic pregnancy.* Don’t talk to me about how you can no longer get health care because he canceled Obamacare…* And please shut up when your public schools wither because all the education funding has been funneled to private Christian academies.* I could go on.
Please, let me relinquish my desire to be right. You can have it.
So how can you keep me from being right? It’s simple, vote for Kamala Harris. VOTE! And vote blue all the way down the ticket. Getting rid of Trumpism is the only way we will bring the GOP back to its senses.
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* This, and so much more, is all laid out in Project 2025. Ignore it at your peril.
WATCH: Michelle Obama talks to young men about why reproductive rights are relevant to them too.
PUT YOURSELF IN THE WAY OF BEAUTY
If somehow you missed this classic essay—it’s decorative gourd season…
Thank you so much for reading, commenting, and sharing. I appreciate your company and support in this super challenging time for our precious democracy. I believe in the American people, and I believe we will do the right thing and elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I invite you to join me in repeating the visualization exercise my friend Ginny shared with me to share with you:
Imagine it is November 6, and you are incredibly relieved and joyful at the election results! Kamala and Tim won!!!!! Really experience your feelings, imagine yourself sharing your relief with friends and loved ones, hugging one another, celebrating the positive outcome. Don't worry about the subsequent challenges, lawsuits, whatever. They will be worked through. Just feel how you will feel with this victory, and let the energy from those feelings travel forward in time to contribute to a victory for democracy and decency. The mind will come in with all its reasons and proof of how it's not possible, but do it anyway. Practice the visualisation, with the ensuing emotions, including at 3 a.m., when the dread and terror arise.
Keep up the fight Joy.
Right on Joy. I am with you all the way!