You've written my favorite piece. Perfect. Your experience mirrors my own so closely that it weirdly makes me feel better. I've mostly stayed away from reading the news or talking about it for the last week, and this is my toes in the water. Yes, I have family and friends who have good reasons to be afraid of what's to come. I also have family and friends that I no longer talk to because this is what they wanted. It's scary and maddening. This is my tenth year making a daily comic, but last week was the first time I didn't want to do it. My fellow cartoonists have been a source of strength. You are a source of strength. Thank you. I will continue to stumble forward. (And I don't like asking for money directly from readers either, but this is where the industry is at right now and you are worth it.)
Anne, I'm totally with you. Ever since the election, I have been living with anxiety, sometimes low, but mostly fairly high. Today I've been trying everything that used to work: meditation -- I cannot quiet my mind, just cannot; listening to music - yours, my grandkids' performances, old favorites; breathing - only short breaths will come, no long sighs. Nothing is working. My muscles are tight and tired.
I, also, have those friends and family who voted differently. They have been silent around me, but I can tell they are curious about me since the election. I have not shown any hint of what I'm feeling. You are very brave to do so. (And thank you for this chance to speak my mind!)
No, you're not fanciful at all. The whole world will change in the next few years. The only question is how fast will it change? How many countries will no longer exist? How much of our lives will change? Will anyone who voted for this ever realize they caused it, or will the bad guys convince them to blame someone else? Is there any hope that we will be pleasantly surprised?
Say what you are feeling when you post. It's probably what I'm feeling, too.
Becky, I feel I made a big mistake in 2015. I wasted the time between the election results and the inauguration. Every one of those days was a day that he was not yet actually in charge of anything and I spent too much time worrying about what he might do and not enough time enjoying the fact that, at that time, he couldn't yet do anything. It's one of the mistakes I hope not to repeat. If it helps you, please consider this mantra "He is not yet in charge. He is not yet in charge." It won't change whatever future we are facing but it can take the sting out of the present. I am also doing my best to tune out the news, turn off all unnecessary notifications and bury myself in the analog life I used to live before so much connectivity. My house is now much cleaner than it was two weeks ago. I also find that soothing music is not helpful to me at times like this - I need up tempo tunes. Back in April of 2020 I did a post about how music can help and posted some upbeat videos. The link is here: https://overbookedandunderpaid.typepad.com/overbooked-and-underpaid/2020/04/behind-the-scenes-with-anne-god-inspiring-music-for-tough-times.html. Finally, I'm trying to find every silver lining I can and be strong for the family members who are having an even harder time than I am.
I wish I could love this ten thousand times. Yes. This is what I’m trying to do as well. I see so many of my friends living in fear already and I think that is throwing today’s joy away when having joy today seems to be so much easier than I anticipate it will be beginning Jan 20. I am still aware of what he is doing but I do what I can as I can without letting that fear steal today.
This is the first of your works I have read but not the last. I just subscribed. Thank you for your honesty and openness.
I haven’t commented recently but I remain an avid fan. My reaction to the time you reference rings true. One day I was thinking how my kids’ futures will be just fine with Hillary in charge. Next day the only reason I could keep the nausea down was to put on a brave front for my son. Then as now I peek at a few trusted sites for a state of the imbecile(s) update but spend most of my online time playing Angry Birds (as I did after the 2016 election) and The Times puzzles. And don’t get me started on the Muskrat. No I’m going to go to the link you posted for music for the times. I ask Alexa to “ play music to calm dogs.” no reason I shouldn’t treat myself similarly. Take care.
Nice to hear from you! Yes, right there with you! I'm trying my best right now to NOT think about him every day. He has a way of making sure you are thinking about him EVERY DAY. Once he's been sworn in I probably won't be able to avoid it but for now I'm putting my fingers in my ears and singing loudly :-)
Keep shouting into the void! At least you are shouting… all I can do is scream silently in my own mind. So shout! Shout for you and shout for me and don’t stop!
This is my first comment in Substack. I read your entire piece. As others have conveyed, you are not alone in your experience of the past few years. Your efforts and struggles are real. My future plan is to remain up-to-date and engaged with the local and national political happenings while also prioritizing and managing my mental, emotional, and physical health through sleep, reflection, reading, family, friends, actions, and activities.
Brenda, Thank you for commenting! If it's your first I hope it won't be your last :-) Your plan sounds a lot like my plan :-) Thank you for your support!
I just found you and like this column and your humor. I am trying to stay informed without heading down to dark fear for what will happen. I look forward to reading more from you. I think being authentic is going to be important for us all to stay sane and smiling. I am now getting all my news from new sources (Guardian, AP, Substack, and Bluesky). I am done with Mainstream media. ☮️
I hear you - I am really rethinking my socials as well. I started a blue sky account a long time ago but there didn’t seem to be many people on it. Over the past two weeks the platform has really blown up and some very cool and nice people are showing up there. You might want to consider it. But in general I am also really hunkering down for my mental health, your comment today is a balm for MY soul - thank you for the kindness and the support!
I’m with you too! I have my first Substack post scheduled to go out this Wednesday because it felt self-indulgent but also necessary? Self-preservation of some kind? I don’t know. I will not follow the old adage of no politics or religion in mixed company either. Not full throated politics but no more shying away. Too much is at stake in today’s politics. Wishing you as much hope and happiness as we can manage in whatever is to come.
Thank you for the support and for the comment and for subscribing! I will definitely check out your post when you publish. Wishing you hope and happiness as well :-)
I will send you a tip next month - I have spent my donation budget already on the ACLU Planned Parenthood and a couple of animal charities. Please keep on keeping on, as a lot of us are trying to do.
Did you get around to noticing that unlike all the detractors, that Trump didn't start any wars. Inflation was lower. And the people who left his organization didn't want to work his strategies. Some people like wars but he didn't.
So if the shit show we've endured from 2021 until now with wide open borders and criminals flooding is preferable them I've got no help for you.
A) We will never know why Trump didn't start any wars but from reports he was happy to get some things going but saner heads in the room prevailed. This is directly from his former staff members and members of his military.
B) Inflation was not lower. PRICES were lower and that's not the same thing. The pandemic caused world wide shortages, played merry hell with all preexisting economic theory and spurred massive price gouging that is still going on. Prices that are too high are still a thing but the actions taken by the fed along with other policies of this administration have gotten the rate of inflation back down into normal zones. If you don't like high prices you might want to buckle up because Trumps proposed tariffs are going to send prices even higher. Not on everything - maybe not even on things you buy regularly - but on plenty of stuff. You might want to stock up on some things before he's sworn in. (Oh, and if you haven't noticed, gas is cheaper than almost any other time in recent years except that time during lockdown when no one needed any gas because we couldn't actually go anywhere.)
C) To say people didn't want to work with Trump's strategies is pretty funny. Trump doesn't do strategies. He has impulses. And he likes to do an end run around existing law and guardrails to carry out whatever impulse he has. People left his administration because, not only did they recognize he didn't have any strategies, he is incapable of listening to or caring about the way things work in government - the way they've been designed to keep us safe from the whims of a dictator or king, the way the founders actually set our system up to have a series of checks and balances and, I don't know, maybe because they saw that Trump liked to flout the rule of law and was a threat to our entire system. If you are looking forward to finding out what it was like to live under a crazy English king get ready because you are about to get your wish unless the system our founders worked so hard to devise holds up.
D) I don't know what reality you are living in but the last four years have been anything but a shitshow for me. The immigrant flood you are describing is not actually what is happening but I imagine you have drunk so much of that kool-aid you can't be reasoned with on that score. I would come to you with factual data - you would scoff at my data and throw your data at me and we would go round and round and not get anywhere. My last four years have gone pretty well considering all the mechanisms for emerging from a world wide catastrophe are pretty hard to manage and we have come out of things much better than most other countries. Are things perfect? No. But then, they never are. But at least they have felt reasonably normal and not as though I'm caught in the clutches of an actual madman. If that's the kind of life you prefer I've got no help for you.
E) and the really important final thing - you are not one of my subscribers. You are clearly a troll who has found my post and decided to try to spoil my day and spoil the days of all the people who come here for absolutely NOT THAT. Please move along, do not follow me on stubstack, do NOT subscribe to what I'm doing with this space. If you attempt to hijack my space again or intimidate me or my readers I WILL block you.
Oh, and that bit about spoiling my day? Or making me look small and weak? You haven't. If that was your mission you failed.
Can I disagree without spoiling your day? If you are thinking that Trump fired people like Bolton because they wouldn't let him start a war then that might be a kool aide problem. Try some other flavors.
Last point. Martha Radditz seemed to think that as long as Tren de Araugua only took over a few buildings in Aurora that would be OK. I guess open borders is OK with you? What happened to the "if it only saves one life ...."?
Of course you can disagree. And I can disagree with you too. Just because people like John Bolton are equally problematic does not excuse the incredibly long list of Trumps failings and actual crimes.
To insinuate that we have open border is silly. We have no such thing. We have plenty of immigration restrictions in place both legally and on the ground. One thing that is true is that there have always been folks willing to smuggle people to other countries illegally - it's a huge problem. It's always been a problem and it's always going to be a problem. The situation in Aurora is incredibly complicated and a lot of people are working very hard on it. Many of the claims by the Trump campaign regarding what's going on there were wildly exaggerated and some were patently untrue.
As you wish. I guess the caravans and streams of people wading across the Rio Grande and elsewhere were staged by those darn Trumpers. And the lawsuits by "Biden" to tear down the make shift barriers in AZ and the floating barriers in the river were done to help "secure" the border. I'm sorry but the "border is secure" trope just doesn't pass the smell test.
Your list may be your own but it reads just like what I can get from ABC and MSNBC and other legacy media. The same ones who said Harris would win. The same sources that claim 5 cops were killed on J6.
I'm not a troll nor a bot. But you have different data that form your opinions. If you think I'm totally wrong that's sad. Intellectual curiosity warrants more examination.
You've written my favorite piece. Perfect. Your experience mirrors my own so closely that it weirdly makes me feel better. I've mostly stayed away from reading the news or talking about it for the last week, and this is my toes in the water. Yes, I have family and friends who have good reasons to be afraid of what's to come. I also have family and friends that I no longer talk to because this is what they wanted. It's scary and maddening. This is my tenth year making a daily comic, but last week was the first time I didn't want to do it. My fellow cartoonists have been a source of strength. You are a source of strength. Thank you. I will continue to stumble forward. (And I don't like asking for money directly from readers either, but this is where the industry is at right now and you are worth it.)
Stephen, Thank you. And I've been meaning to thank you for putting me on your recommendations on your own substack. It really means a lot!
Anne, I'm totally with you. Ever since the election, I have been living with anxiety, sometimes low, but mostly fairly high. Today I've been trying everything that used to work: meditation -- I cannot quiet my mind, just cannot; listening to music - yours, my grandkids' performances, old favorites; breathing - only short breaths will come, no long sighs. Nothing is working. My muscles are tight and tired.
I, also, have those friends and family who voted differently. They have been silent around me, but I can tell they are curious about me since the election. I have not shown any hint of what I'm feeling. You are very brave to do so. (And thank you for this chance to speak my mind!)
No, you're not fanciful at all. The whole world will change in the next few years. The only question is how fast will it change? How many countries will no longer exist? How much of our lives will change? Will anyone who voted for this ever realize they caused it, or will the bad guys convince them to blame someone else? Is there any hope that we will be pleasantly surprised?
Say what you are feeling when you post. It's probably what I'm feeling, too.
Becky, I feel I made a big mistake in 2015. I wasted the time between the election results and the inauguration. Every one of those days was a day that he was not yet actually in charge of anything and I spent too much time worrying about what he might do and not enough time enjoying the fact that, at that time, he couldn't yet do anything. It's one of the mistakes I hope not to repeat. If it helps you, please consider this mantra "He is not yet in charge. He is not yet in charge." It won't change whatever future we are facing but it can take the sting out of the present. I am also doing my best to tune out the news, turn off all unnecessary notifications and bury myself in the analog life I used to live before so much connectivity. My house is now much cleaner than it was two weeks ago. I also find that soothing music is not helpful to me at times like this - I need up tempo tunes. Back in April of 2020 I did a post about how music can help and posted some upbeat videos. The link is here: https://overbookedandunderpaid.typepad.com/overbooked-and-underpaid/2020/04/behind-the-scenes-with-anne-god-inspiring-music-for-tough-times.html. Finally, I'm trying to find every silver lining I can and be strong for the family members who are having an even harder time than I am.
I wish I could love this ten thousand times. Yes. This is what I’m trying to do as well. I see so many of my friends living in fear already and I think that is throwing today’s joy away when having joy today seems to be so much easier than I anticipate it will be beginning Jan 20. I am still aware of what he is doing but I do what I can as I can without letting that fear steal today.
This is the first of your works I have read but not the last. I just subscribed. Thank you for your honesty and openness.
I haven’t commented recently but I remain an avid fan. My reaction to the time you reference rings true. One day I was thinking how my kids’ futures will be just fine with Hillary in charge. Next day the only reason I could keep the nausea down was to put on a brave front for my son. Then as now I peek at a few trusted sites for a state of the imbecile(s) update but spend most of my online time playing Angry Birds (as I did after the 2016 election) and The Times puzzles. And don’t get me started on the Muskrat. No I’m going to go to the link you posted for music for the times. I ask Alexa to “ play music to calm dogs.” no reason I shouldn’t treat myself similarly. Take care.
Nice to hear from you! Yes, right there with you! I'm trying my best right now to NOT think about him every day. He has a way of making sure you are thinking about him EVERY DAY. Once he's been sworn in I probably won't be able to avoid it but for now I'm putting my fingers in my ears and singing loudly :-)
Thank you for putting into words what so many of us feel. Hugs, if they are permitted.
Hugs definitely permitted! Thank you for letting me know I am not alone.
Keep shouting into the void! At least you are shouting… all I can do is scream silently in my own mind. So shout! Shout for you and shout for me and don’t stop!
Thank you! I'll keep doing my best! Thank you for the support.
This is my first comment in Substack. I read your entire piece. As others have conveyed, you are not alone in your experience of the past few years. Your efforts and struggles are real. My future plan is to remain up-to-date and engaged with the local and national political happenings while also prioritizing and managing my mental, emotional, and physical health through sleep, reflection, reading, family, friends, actions, and activities.
Brenda, Thank you for commenting! If it's your first I hope it won't be your last :-) Your plan sounds a lot like my plan :-) Thank you for your support!
I just found you and like this column and your humor. I am trying to stay informed without heading down to dark fear for what will happen. I look forward to reading more from you. I think being authentic is going to be important for us all to stay sane and smiling. I am now getting all my news from new sources (Guardian, AP, Substack, and Bluesky). I am done with Mainstream media. ☮️
Barry Thank you for reading and for the support. I hope you will continue to enjoy what I have to say in the coming days. We all need each other.
I have completely taken myself off of all social media to protect my mental health. I'm thankful I found you. Your letter is a balm for my soul.
I hear you - I am really rethinking my socials as well. I started a blue sky account a long time ago but there didn’t seem to be many people on it. Over the past two weeks the platform has really blown up and some very cool and nice people are showing up there. You might want to consider it. But in general I am also really hunkering down for my mental health, your comment today is a balm for MY soul - thank you for the kindness and the support!
That's what I've heard as well!
I’m with you too! I have my first Substack post scheduled to go out this Wednesday because it felt self-indulgent but also necessary? Self-preservation of some kind? I don’t know. I will not follow the old adage of no politics or religion in mixed company either. Not full throated politics but no more shying away. Too much is at stake in today’s politics. Wishing you as much hope and happiness as we can manage in whatever is to come.
Thank you for the support and for the comment and for subscribing! I will definitely check out your post when you publish. Wishing you hope and happiness as well :-)
Anne - thank you and blessings for your work. Guess I'll stick around and see what happens next.
Peter, Thank you for sticking around! And for the support and kind words!
I’m right there with you. Keep up the hard work!
Kurt, Thank you! It helps a lot to know I'm not alone!
I will send you a tip next month - I have spent my donation budget already on the ACLU Planned Parenthood and a couple of animal charities. Please keep on keeping on, as a lot of us are trying to do.
Mary, Thank you so much for the support. It means a lot!
Did you get around to noticing that unlike all the detractors, that Trump didn't start any wars. Inflation was lower. And the people who left his organization didn't want to work his strategies. Some people like wars but he didn't.
So if the shit show we've endured from 2021 until now with wide open borders and criminals flooding is preferable them I've got no help for you.
All right John, lets get into it.
A) We will never know why Trump didn't start any wars but from reports he was happy to get some things going but saner heads in the room prevailed. This is directly from his former staff members and members of his military.
B) Inflation was not lower. PRICES were lower and that's not the same thing. The pandemic caused world wide shortages, played merry hell with all preexisting economic theory and spurred massive price gouging that is still going on. Prices that are too high are still a thing but the actions taken by the fed along with other policies of this administration have gotten the rate of inflation back down into normal zones. If you don't like high prices you might want to buckle up because Trumps proposed tariffs are going to send prices even higher. Not on everything - maybe not even on things you buy regularly - but on plenty of stuff. You might want to stock up on some things before he's sworn in. (Oh, and if you haven't noticed, gas is cheaper than almost any other time in recent years except that time during lockdown when no one needed any gas because we couldn't actually go anywhere.)
C) To say people didn't want to work with Trump's strategies is pretty funny. Trump doesn't do strategies. He has impulses. And he likes to do an end run around existing law and guardrails to carry out whatever impulse he has. People left his administration because, not only did they recognize he didn't have any strategies, he is incapable of listening to or caring about the way things work in government - the way they've been designed to keep us safe from the whims of a dictator or king, the way the founders actually set our system up to have a series of checks and balances and, I don't know, maybe because they saw that Trump liked to flout the rule of law and was a threat to our entire system. If you are looking forward to finding out what it was like to live under a crazy English king get ready because you are about to get your wish unless the system our founders worked so hard to devise holds up.
D) I don't know what reality you are living in but the last four years have been anything but a shitshow for me. The immigrant flood you are describing is not actually what is happening but I imagine you have drunk so much of that kool-aid you can't be reasoned with on that score. I would come to you with factual data - you would scoff at my data and throw your data at me and we would go round and round and not get anywhere. My last four years have gone pretty well considering all the mechanisms for emerging from a world wide catastrophe are pretty hard to manage and we have come out of things much better than most other countries. Are things perfect? No. But then, they never are. But at least they have felt reasonably normal and not as though I'm caught in the clutches of an actual madman. If that's the kind of life you prefer I've got no help for you.
E) and the really important final thing - you are not one of my subscribers. You are clearly a troll who has found my post and decided to try to spoil my day and spoil the days of all the people who come here for absolutely NOT THAT. Please move along, do not follow me on stubstack, do NOT subscribe to what I'm doing with this space. If you attempt to hijack my space again or intimidate me or my readers I WILL block you.
Oh, and that bit about spoiling my day? Or making me look small and weak? You haven't. If that was your mission you failed.
Can I disagree without spoiling your day? If you are thinking that Trump fired people like Bolton because they wouldn't let him start a war then that might be a kool aide problem. Try some other flavors.
Last point. Martha Radditz seemed to think that as long as Tren de Araugua only took over a few buildings in Aurora that would be OK. I guess open borders is OK with you? What happened to the "if it only saves one life ...."?
Of course you can disagree. And I can disagree with you too. Just because people like John Bolton are equally problematic does not excuse the incredibly long list of Trumps failings and actual crimes.
To insinuate that we have open border is silly. We have no such thing. We have plenty of immigration restrictions in place both legally and on the ground. One thing that is true is that there have always been folks willing to smuggle people to other countries illegally - it's a huge problem. It's always been a problem and it's always going to be a problem. The situation in Aurora is incredibly complicated and a lot of people are working very hard on it. Many of the claims by the Trump campaign regarding what's going on there were wildly exaggerated and some were patently untrue.
As you wish. I guess the caravans and streams of people wading across the Rio Grande and elsewhere were staged by those darn Trumpers. And the lawsuits by "Biden" to tear down the make shift barriers in AZ and the floating barriers in the river were done to help "secure" the border. I'm sorry but the "border is secure" trope just doesn't pass the smell test.
Your list may be your own but it reads just like what I can get from ABC and MSNBC and other legacy media. The same ones who said Harris would win. The same sources that claim 5 cops were killed on J6.
I'm not a troll nor a bot. But you have different data that form your opinions. If you think I'm totally wrong that's sad. Intellectual curiosity warrants more examination.
John, we're done here.