It was wrong, definitely. And I feel terrible about the man in the audience who was killed. But just looking at Trump, isn't it just chickens coming home to roost? Listen to the podcast, The Asset, which is all about Trump's business dealings. Remind yourself of the 34 felony counts, the Jean Caroll (sp?) suit, Trump's actions up to and during January 6. I could go on, but that gives you the idea. Where was Trump when people were trying to pass stronger gun control laws? Did he really never think a bullet might head his way? Did he really think he could play outside the lines but no one would ever do so to come after him? I also feel terrible about the young man, the shooter, now dead, who was that desperate to rid the world of Trump, only to hand Trump a photo op. What a sad waste of two lives.
I dunno, I hear what you’re saying, but I left the states 12 years ago and, for me, this is just another incident in a long ongoing series of horror back home. It was shocking, yes, and I have opinions, but I’m not half as upset as, say, when I woke up on 7 Jan to the news of the sixth. I’ve suspected for a long time that I’m just progressively disengaging from stuff back home, certainly from all things political and even from my family, I’d assume as a defense mechanism. I feel so lucky to have left basically every single day, which is also sad; so while no, I don’t particularly want to stick my head in the sand or live an oblivious country idyll while our country burns, I also find I just don’t care as much as I ‘should.’
On the other hand, while I wouldn’t know how the French are reacting, I’m 100% over all my Aussie friends treating American news like a dystopian yet hilarious reality show, so I suppose I do still care a fair bit.
I appreciate you weaving the outer shock wave of the day in with the internal reflection. Life is a constant balancing act between the two on any day as it is, sometimes the focus goes 'out there', other times it comes back 'in here'., as we experience ourselves in the context of both at the same time. I also really appreciate you mentioning what the quality of fixation can do to our awareness, because any obsession can erode the inner life or reshape it to the point where the outer supplants the inner, and then all that sense of self that's needed for resilience in the outer world that sorting through our inner worlds provides, is nearly replaced by brittle reactivity. I've sometimes wondered, given the weirdness and violence of the outer world these days, if it's valuable to invest much in my personal world in detail - sifting through each grain of sand of the past, mulling over paint colors or room decor for hours, religiously keeping weeds out of the garden - and I think it is, very much. Not obsessively, either, but in the sense that if I continue to create my personal treasure of a life and however clumsy I am at it to love doing it, perhaps something of peace and beauty from my home and psyche can radiate out into the tumult of the outer, and be felt as a sense of comfort or possibility to others. I think we all need some kind of felt sense of safe home base, wholeness and joy to navigate being torn back and forth by outer polarities. If I lose myself in outer problems, I forget what peace feels like, so it's harder to get back to it or be a source of it. I've loved your posts Alex, because whatever the details may be, an individual life focused on healing and beauty is one of the most inspiring gifts of being human. Without it I think it's too possible to remain one of the walking wounded, and never come back to well being. (Not to mention your great sense of irony and beautiful writing.)
what's been so strange in this moment, that was kicked off by the debate, when the firehose turned on biden, is how anxious people's responses are. i mean that's not strange given what's at stake. but it's strange to see it unfolding and how. strange to see how much extra violent feeling there is. how fast everyone is desperate to move, how tweaked they are on adrenaline. i am too. we're in a bunch of little collective psychoses right now.
One is those who will face deportation even though they may be parents, spouses, etc. of American citizens. Just uprooted and thrown out of the country. And the children, spouses, etc. who would be affected by that.
The other group is the Jan. 6 rioters who have been convicted of crimes, are now in prison, and have been hoping the next election will result in get-out-of-jail-free passes. Now an act of political violence could have torched those hopes. How ironic that would have been.
Troubled that my initial reaction to seeing Trump being superficially injured, was that it was a political stunt to stir up the MAGA hordes. Along with many folks, our politics has nearly turned me into a cynic. But, in spite of the politics dumpster fire, I still tear up when I sing the national anthem at the Hollywood Bowl with 5000 people and a symphony orchestra. I want that America back. I want every last Trump (except Mary) to just go away to their gold-plated houses, preferably in Florida or farther out to sea.
yeah i don't think it says good things about our political moment right now how widespread the conspiracy thinking went. i think it says worse things about trump that so many people would instantly think it was fake. halls of mirrors and clear eyes have a hard time coexisting.
thank you for saying this and wow yes things are hitting hard and weird right now. i want to run away, hide in london (was flying back during the debate debacle) or another distant place forever but that is currently not optional. very strange days.
JFK, Robert Kennedy, Reagan, Ford (was it twice?), now Trump...it's the American way, right? I've been expecting something like this to happen to a President or candidate since Obama first ran.
yes we do love violence and guns in america. and we are not getting much better at settling differences. i was never much of a "say your prayers at night" person but i do send joe a lot of strength and forbearance every night and hope he catches it.
Thanks - you have articulated something I haven't been able to, Alexandra.
I would have said I was looking forward to a respite - but am very glad to have read what you wrote here instead.
It was wrong, definitely. And I feel terrible about the man in the audience who was killed. But just looking at Trump, isn't it just chickens coming home to roost? Listen to the podcast, The Asset, which is all about Trump's business dealings. Remind yourself of the 34 felony counts, the Jean Caroll (sp?) suit, Trump's actions up to and during January 6. I could go on, but that gives you the idea. Where was Trump when people were trying to pass stronger gun control laws? Did he really never think a bullet might head his way? Did he really think he could play outside the lines but no one would ever do so to come after him? I also feel terrible about the young man, the shooter, now dead, who was that desperate to rid the world of Trump, only to hand Trump a photo op. What a sad waste of two lives.
I dunno, I hear what you’re saying, but I left the states 12 years ago and, for me, this is just another incident in a long ongoing series of horror back home. It was shocking, yes, and I have opinions, but I’m not half as upset as, say, when I woke up on 7 Jan to the news of the sixth. I’ve suspected for a long time that I’m just progressively disengaging from stuff back home, certainly from all things political and even from my family, I’d assume as a defense mechanism. I feel so lucky to have left basically every single day, which is also sad; so while no, I don’t particularly want to stick my head in the sand or live an oblivious country idyll while our country burns, I also find I just don’t care as much as I ‘should.’
On the other hand, while I wouldn’t know how the French are reacting, I’m 100% over all my Aussie friends treating American news like a dystopian yet hilarious reality show, so I suppose I do still care a fair bit.
personally, i can't disconnect. i've lived in france almost 20 years and i still consider US politics "my politics."
I appreciate you weaving the outer shock wave of the day in with the internal reflection. Life is a constant balancing act between the two on any day as it is, sometimes the focus goes 'out there', other times it comes back 'in here'., as we experience ourselves in the context of both at the same time. I also really appreciate you mentioning what the quality of fixation can do to our awareness, because any obsession can erode the inner life or reshape it to the point where the outer supplants the inner, and then all that sense of self that's needed for resilience in the outer world that sorting through our inner worlds provides, is nearly replaced by brittle reactivity. I've sometimes wondered, given the weirdness and violence of the outer world these days, if it's valuable to invest much in my personal world in detail - sifting through each grain of sand of the past, mulling over paint colors or room decor for hours, religiously keeping weeds out of the garden - and I think it is, very much. Not obsessively, either, but in the sense that if I continue to create my personal treasure of a life and however clumsy I am at it to love doing it, perhaps something of peace and beauty from my home and psyche can radiate out into the tumult of the outer, and be felt as a sense of comfort or possibility to others. I think we all need some kind of felt sense of safe home base, wholeness and joy to navigate being torn back and forth by outer polarities. If I lose myself in outer problems, I forget what peace feels like, so it's harder to get back to it or be a source of it. I've loved your posts Alex, because whatever the details may be, an individual life focused on healing and beauty is one of the most inspiring gifts of being human. Without it I think it's too possible to remain one of the walking wounded, and never come back to well being. (Not to mention your great sense of irony and beautiful writing.)
what's been so strange in this moment, that was kicked off by the debate, when the firehose turned on biden, is how anxious people's responses are. i mean that's not strange given what's at stake. but it's strange to see it unfolding and how. strange to see how much extra violent feeling there is. how fast everyone is desperate to move, how tweaked they are on adrenaline. i am too. we're in a bunch of little collective psychoses right now.
I find myself thinking about 2 groups of people.
One is those who will face deportation even though they may be parents, spouses, etc. of American citizens. Just uprooted and thrown out of the country. And the children, spouses, etc. who would be affected by that.
The other group is the Jan. 6 rioters who have been convicted of crimes, are now in prison, and have been hoping the next election will result in get-out-of-jail-free passes. Now an act of political violence could have torched those hopes. How ironic that would have been.
if it turns out it was teleprompter glass that caused trump's injury that will also be a very weird irony.
Troubled that my initial reaction to seeing Trump being superficially injured, was that it was a political stunt to stir up the MAGA hordes. Along with many folks, our politics has nearly turned me into a cynic. But, in spite of the politics dumpster fire, I still tear up when I sing the national anthem at the Hollywood Bowl with 5000 people and a symphony orchestra. I want that America back. I want every last Trump (except Mary) to just go away to their gold-plated houses, preferably in Florida or farther out to sea.
yeah i don't think it says good things about our political moment right now how widespread the conspiracy thinking went. i think it says worse things about trump that so many people would instantly think it was fake. halls of mirrors and clear eyes have a hard time coexisting.
thank you for saying this and wow yes things are hitting hard and weird right now. i want to run away, hide in london (was flying back during the debate debacle) or another distant place forever but that is currently not optional. very strange days.
i live in a very distant place from this. if you care, you never escape it! the news finds you. the frenzy is addictive too.
JFK, Robert Kennedy, Reagan, Ford (was it twice?), now Trump...it's the American way, right? I've been expecting something like this to happen to a President or candidate since Obama first ran.
yes we do love violence and guns in america. and we are not getting much better at settling differences. i was never much of a "say your prayers at night" person but i do send joe a lot of strength and forbearance every night and hope he catches it.
Well, I do say prayers, and Joe is on the list.