FEAR AND LOATHINGI N T H E A G E O F T R U M P

A D I S C U S S I O N B Y N A T H A N S P R O U L

W I T H A M E R I C A N P O L I T I C S A T P E A K

P O L A R I Z A T I O N , T H E S T A K E S O F T H E

2 0 1 6 E L E C T I O N C O U L D N O T H A V E

S E E M E D H I G H E R — B O T H F O R

E V E R Y D A Y A M E R I C A N S A N D T H O S E I N

T H E L I M E L I G H T . E G G E D O N B Y A

V O R A C I O U S , S C A N D A L - H A P P Y M E D I A ,

B O T H L E F T A N D R I G H T F E A R E D T H E

W O R S T F O R T H E I R C O U N T R Y . T H E

F E A R S O F M A N Y D E M O C R A T S B E C A M E

A R E A L I T Y W H E N T H E E L E C T O R A L

M A P T U R N E D R E D , S O L I D I F Y I N G

D O N A L D T R U M P ’ S V I C T O R Y . A T T H E

S A M E T I M E , M A N Y R E P U B L I C A N S

B R E A T H E D A S I G H O F R E L I E F : T H E I R

F E A R S O F A C L I N T O N P R E S I D E N C Y

W E R E A B A T E D .

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF FEAR IN POLIT ICS?

Donald Trump addressed the fears of the populace and succeeded in

making many Americans feel heard—something Clinton could not

accomplish as acutely. Call it fear-mongering, or just call it politics:

tapping into insecurities, validating fears and proposing solutions is

almost always used to win.

Transitions of power are a cornerstone of democracy,

meaning that everyone regardless of party has a responsibility to

honor the results of the election to help the President-elect’s

transition smoothly and peacefully.

W H Y , T H E N , A R E S O M E

D E M O C R A T S A T T E M P T I N G T O

M A K E T H E T R A N S I T I O N

A N Y T H I N G B U T P E A C E F U L ?

FEAR-MONGERING DURING THE

PRESIDENTIAL TRANSIT ION

Democrats in Congress, not to mention celebrities, mainstream

media outlets, and others in positions of power are feeding into outrage prematurely, and doing a

disservice to us all in the meantime. Large numbers of elected

Democrats refused to attend the Inauguration–a time-honored tradition of temporary unity.

BY REJECTING HIM FROM THE ONSET WITH A “THE WORLD IS OVER AS WE KNOW IT”

RHETORICAL FLURRY, DEMOCRATS ARE, IN FACT, HELPING TRUMP SUCCEED.

The lower expectations are for Trump and the louder Democrats’

presuppositions for his failures, the more bullets they are loading

into a gun that might end up shooting them in the foot. He will

almost certainly prove their cataclysmic hand-wringing wrong. And

most importantly in politics, they’ve given him a path by which the

only way to go is up.

WHAT TRUMP HAS DONE SO FAR:

Received briefings Made policy plans Signed executive orders Built a cabinet of qualified individuals

At the end of the day...Bettering the country is a goal we should all get

behind no matter who is in office. Trump might

not have been your choice, but we all owe it to

give his administration a chance. 

Some advice for my Democrat friends:

 Keep your skepticism and even your strongly

worded disagreement, but save your apocalyptic

outrage. It will mean much more—and make a

bigger difference—if you don’t cry wolf so often.

For more information visit  my Huffington Post Article ....