Driven to Tears

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

This is bad.

There was that woman who rejected me in college. I felt this hollow pit in my stomach. No matter what I did, I really could not get over the fact that she did not want to go out with me anymore.

I was miserable. I really did not eat. I really could not focus on my studies. I knew it was silly. I knew it was my emotions gone haywire. Heck, I was trying to study so that I could, I hoped, get into medical school. It was hard to explain that my bad grades were caused by my girlfriend breaking up with me. Yet, there I was. Miserable. Downtrodden. Dejected.

Donald Trump, president-elect

I was experiencing the same feelings on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 6. I looked at my phone, and Donald Trump was the new president-elect.

I have supported losing candidates before. Yet, this time, it was different. To me, the choice was obvious: Kamala Harris was a representative force for good. She ran a wonderful campaign. She was thoughtful. She was energetic. She was working to bring people together. I thought that America was ready for a Black woman to be president.

But here we are. “Donald Trump, president-elect.” This really hurts. It actually hurts worse than when that woman dumped me in college.

The rock band led by Sting wrote the song “Driven to Tears.”

Hide my face in my hands
Shame wells in my throat
My comfortable existence
Is reduced to a shallow meaningless party

Seems that when some innocent die
All we can offer them is a page in some magazine
Too many cameras and not enough food
This is what we’ve seen

Driven to tears

Why It Hurts So Much

I grew up in Dallas, Texas, in the late 1960s and 1970s. We also had three basic channels: ABC, NBC, and CBS. There was public broadcasting. There were also a few local channels, which mostly played reruns. This was before cable. All of us, all of us Americans, basically watched the same thing. Every Sunday, we went to church. I was told to sit up. I was told to pay attention.

The preacher, for the most part, told us we needed to have morals. We need to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. We should not lie, we should not cheat, we should not steal. We should love our fellow neighbor. We should respect one another. We should work hard because it is the right thing to do. All of these things would be rewarded. Not here but in the afterlife. Then, the rest of the week, I went to a private Episcopal school where all these teachings were reinforced. My parents reinforced all of these teachings. I can still hear my father say, “Tell the truth regardless of the consequences.”

It seems to me that a majority of Americans—at least, a near majority of voters—have spoken resoundingly. They basically said all those things you learned growing up do not matter. Being a world-class jerk is okay.

But it is actually worse than that. Being a world-class jerk is who we prefer. We have a track record of Donald Trump. He has been president before. He has failed the American people more spectacularly than any president in modern history.

This is not hyperbole. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, 100,000 Americans died during COVID-19 who should have lived. They died because of the confusing and uncoordinated response from Trump—and his team, and their complete lack of thoughtful presidential leadership. Trump put his son-in-law, a real estate developer who needed a $1.1-billion bailout from Qatar, in charge of distributing ventilators and vaccines during the Covid crisis, and withholding them from Democratic-run states!

That’s right. Donald Trump also told us to inject ourselves with bleach or shine a powerful light up our bottoms. He told us to take hydroxychloroquine, which had never ever been shown to be effective, and—here’s the “best” part—is actually harmful for some Americans. His recklessness and lack of appreciation for logical thought killed Americans.

My Bible

‘Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.’ ~ Colossians 3:12-13

Now, we can argue who wrote this New Testament chapter. It has been taught that it was probably written by Paul the Apostle, who dictated it to Timothy. The chapter is written in the form of a letter. Paul, or whoever the author is, is telling the people of Colossae how they should act.

At no point does he say you should build a wall to keep out immigrants. He does not say that we should not run around with rage and vengeance in our hearts. “Compassion, kindness, humility.” I am not twisting the words of the Bible; I am using the words of the Bible. These tenets have been taught for generations. I suspect these fundamental moral principles will continue to be taught long after Donald Trump is gone.

Strong headwinds

There is a cacophony of misinformation. There are the usual suspects, Fox News, and right-wing radio, but there is so much more. Elon Musk bought Twitter and allowed it to become a cesspool of misinformation and lies. There is Alex Jones and his podcasts, but there are also many more. There are probably 100 or so conservative podcasts spewing lies.

They have their effects. They lied about the economy. They lied about immigration.

I saw an article in The New York Times that talked about how more Hispanics have voted for the Republican Party than ever before. They interviewed a lady in South Texas who blames Joe Biden for the fact that she couldn’t buy enough groceries with $300 to get all the kids everything that they wanted. First of all, we shouldn’t be giving kids “everything that they want.”

Secondly, and more important, the reason that groceries costing $300 didn’t cost her $400 or $500 is because Biden has worked tirelessly to bring inflation under control—down to 1.1% in the 3rd Quarter of 2024 (2.2% if you exclude food and energy). I’m sorry, but how will Donald Trump make this better?

We have a lot to do. These next four years are going to be ridiculously hard. We are going to have to work overtime to combat the lies, the nonsense, and the confusion. We need a progressive network. This is not just a network of friends and family but a radio network covering the United States, from coast to coast. We need to be on social media. We need podcasts. We need hundreds, not just one or two. We need funny people. We need serious people.

We need to be stronger than ever. (Man, this hurts.) Right now, I need to rest. I need to clear my mind.

Have you ever listened to the 19th-century composer Erik Satie? His calming music can restore the broken spirit. Or look through a book of photography. Seek out paintings of our beautiful planet Earth. Read poetry. Breathe deeply. Find your happy place. Embrace your friends.

Rest. We will need to be stronger than ever.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed here, as well as assertions of facts, are those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Urban News.