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With just a few days left before the US elections, the ListenerWashington DC columnist Jonathan Kronstadt turns to positive visualization and mindfulness apps as he anxiously awaits the outcome of the election.

Throughout my electoral life, from 1976 until last Thursday, electing a president has been a partisan task.
I have never voted for a Republican and I feel safe in saying that everyone who made it to the White House without my vote left the nation worse off when they left.

In the past, the only thing you had to worry about was which side was going to win. It was often more than enough, given the damage done by people like Nixon, Reagan and the Bush twins. But this time things are different.

Not only has concern increased over who will win over who might win, but a new and equally shocking question has been added: What is going to happen?

There are three dates immediately memorable to Americans: July 4th, September 11th, and the newest member of the club, January 6th. 9/11 shattered our collective sense of invincibility against outsiders; January 6 did similar damage to our sense of security when we look at each other.

So, this time – really for the first time – we don’t know what’s going to happen. Nobody knows. There are no polls predicting this outcome, nor any expert experts with solid arguments for any point on the spectrum of reaction from silence to civil war.

As you can imagine, this thick layer of anxiety induced by the coming chaos hasn’t done much for our national blood pressure. I am well aware that, as a straight white man living comfortably in the suburbs, a Trump victory would likely have little impact on my daily life.

But in some ways, much of the damage has already been done, as there’s no denying that about half of the people whose country phone code is the same as mine are okay with putting this petty, petty narcissist in charge. . That is an inescapably sad fact.

But for the millions of people who are even a little vulnerable or marginalized for a variety of reasons (most, though not all, of which fall under the umbrella of not being a straight white man), a second Trump presidency is cause. of genuine concern.

If you needed further proof of the unhinged toxicity of Trump’s approach to, well, being human (and you shouldn’t), his racist rally even for him at Madison Square Garden should be enough.

Because this wildly insecure man needed to show the city that called him a criminal 34 times that he is their former and future king, he brought a hate parade to the most famous stadium in the country. Trump’s immigration attack dog, Stephen Miller, who would never have drawn a breath had his great-grandmother not left Russia for the United States during the pogroms of the early 20th century, offered the singularly racist redundancy: “America is for Americans and only for Americans.”

Trump’s thoughts on the rally? “I don’t think anyone has ever seen anything like what happened the other night at Madison Square Garden. The love in that room; “It was impressive.”

If irony were to return, the millions of mainland Puerto Ricans – whose home “Trump’s comedian” that night called a “floating island of garbage” – would be a great option as a voting bloc that seals their orange monkey fate. . It was quite a display of frankly boastful and remorseless intolerance.

But, because it seems certain that God either 1) doesn’t exist, or 2) is really angry at people for some reason, the following two things are true: 1) the closer the election results, the more dangerous they will be. its consequences and, 2) it will be the closest elections in history.

So, we wait. And squeeze. And maybe try that mindfulness app with all the breathing and the Australian woman with a calming voice. Or try positive visualization. I have one where Kamala wins by a nose and Trump comes on stage and everyone expects him to call for Insurrection 2.0, and he opens his mouth wide and says, “Oh, screw this. “I’m bored and I want to go home.” And he’s off to pursue his newfound happiness: making McDonald’s fries.

My brain, and almost everyone else’s, has been completely scrambled by this chaotic, never-ending campaign and the uncertainty of what’s to come.

Maybe he’ll change his name to Donald McDonald, I don’t know. My brain, and almost everyone else’s, has been completely scrambled by this chaotic, never-ending campaign and the uncertainty of what’s to come.

Another major change has increased our national anxiety: We no longer know who or what to trust, so we trust no one and nothing. The last time America faced such widespread social turbulence was in the 1960s, and back then the most trusted man in America was, and this should surprise you, CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite. (The most recent “most trusted person” poll was from 2013 and the winner was Tom Hanks, who we somewhat trust because he mainly plays good guy roles in movies.)

We used to trust things we don’t trust as much anymore, like science, journalism, government, and the common decency and good intentions of our fellow human beings. For many of us, thanks to the demonization of the “other” we receive from the media, candidates and interest groups, our political opponents have become our enemies and a supposed existential threat to our way of life.

All that said, I hope, and indeed hope, that the forces of reason prevail on November 5th and that Trump and his crowds are too exhausted to try to turn the situation around. other choice. He already holds the record for the most attempts to overturn a US presidential election, so overturning another would simply be boastful. On the other hand, he really likes to show off.