DON’T EXPLAIN
It does not matter much what a man hates provided he hates something. –Samuel Butler
Some time ago, after I’d written a number of posts lampooning America’s vainglorious leader, I was asked by a reader why I “hate” Donald Trump. I replied that I didn’t hate him, I pitied him — pitied him for being the kind of human being he is. In hindsight, I should have asked the reader, Does Trump hate those he insults? — i.e. “Pocahontas” Elizabeth Warren, “Little Marco” Rubio, “Lightweight” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (I suppose the Senator should be grateful Trump didn’t call her heavyweight), etc., etc., etc. My answer (and, I assume, that reader’s) is no — hate is something deeply felt, not a juvenile slur. Trump’s mocking is strictly gratuitous, like a bully who must put down anyone who, in his world, is a “loser” — someone in his way; an inconvenient object to be diminished or pushed aside. It’s not even personal (a “loser” is but an abstraction).
So, in deference to Samuel Butler, should I apologize for not hating Trump — or anyone, for that matter? Truth be known, the closest I come to hating anyone is God….that is, if I believed in God — the biblical God, the invented God of wrath, innocent suffering and mystifying absence. But I am a ‘default’ deist, left with a creator God, an impersonal God, a God with nothing to explain — at least, not until the next life (if there is one). The creator God never said a word or promised us anything — not on earth or after. Perhaps I should be jealous, for, unlike the creator God, there are times (like now) when this only-human creator feels the need to explain what I create. And yet, I get not deigning to explain — explaining ain’t easy. If I were God or Trump, I might not explain myself either.
markscheel1, and 5 others are discussing. 
The Observation Post 
Lisa R. Palmer 9:22 am on February 18, 2018 Permalink |
Yes!! I get this. And I feel this. And I am sincerely moved by the “truth” of it. I have spent much of my adult life attempting to define and explain the “God” of my understanding, and how it works, and here you put the matter so simply and so rationally, it blows my mind. Lol! Thank you for the glimpse behind the curtain, both universally and personally, for this is yet another side of you showing through…
On another note, hatred seems like such a huge investment to make in someone; it’s very much like love in that regard. Most of these hate-able people, like insecure bullies, are not worth such investment from me. But perhaps my willingness to dismiss them so eagerly is part of the “problem,” in that my experience teaches that the more you ignore the ego-driven, the more they cry out to be acknowledged…
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mistermuse 11:13 am on February 18, 2018 Permalink |
I very much appreciate your comment, Lisa. It’s rewarding to have dialogues with fellow ‘searchers’ (as opposed to ‘dialogues’ with ideologues).
I think your second paragraph is right on the money, especially “the more you ignore the ego-driven, the more they cry out to be acknowledged.” That describes Trump to a T, and is the reason he is more to be pitied than hated. In a certain sense, one can’t help but pity a man who seemingly can’t help being what he is and is incapable of even reflecting on the matter. Multiply him by millions like him, and you see the world through the eyes of an objective visitor from another planet.
P.S. I’ll return to my space ship shortly and get back to my usual blogging routine of disgustingly humorous posts.
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arekhill1 1:55 pm on February 18, 2018 Permalink |
According to conventional theology, Sr. Muse, it’s God’s will that we have Trump, which bolsters one of my theological observations–this God character does some shady shit.
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mistermuse 2:44 pm on February 18, 2018 Permalink |
Ricardo, that’s only the will of the religious/biblical God — not of the creator/deistic God, who has left man to his own devices since emerging from the primordial soup (which apparently wasn’t that long ago for some of us, if The Donald and his crackers are any indication).
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Carmen 9:37 pm on February 18, 2018 Permalink |
Your reply to Ricardo reminds me of the question, “What’s the difference between an invisible god and a non-existent one?” 😉
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mistermuse 10:30 pm on February 18, 2018 Permalink |
No difference whatsoever in this life, Carmen….except that with a non-existent one, there’s absolutely no possibility of a next life, and with an invisible one, who knows? Of course, we can hope for the invisible one and an afterlife, but even if both of those things turn out, one has to wonder (assuming we’ll ‘see’ our invisible maker, ourselves and each other as we really are) how in the hell we’ll be able to live with ourselves, each other, and an oblivious God. 😦
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Carmen 6:57 am on February 19, 2018 Permalink
The only thing we DO know for certainty is we get this life. Thankfully, there are those people who try to brighten someone else’s day by being pleasant, doing whatever they can to make others’ lives better, and filling the airwaves with wonderful music and sharp wit. 🙂
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Don Frankel 8:15 am on February 19, 2018 Permalink |
Assuming I’m that reader since I asked you that let me explain. It seems a waste of time and energy to get all bent out of shape over something or someone, you will have nothing to do with and can do nothing about. Doesn’t matter who it is, they can’t hear you and they don’t much care. You’re the one who is upset.
There was this guy in the local Diner and it’s Jan 10, 2017 and he explains to me that President Obama was born in Kenya and isn’t an American citizen. Now the reason I remember the date is because President Obama was not going to be President in 10 days, so what was the guy on the stool’s point? He hates President Obama like really bad. So he spent 8 years of his life hating some guy who didn’t even know he was alive. And, it doesn’t seem to have effected or affected President Obama too much either. Maybe it did something for the guy sitting on that stool but I don’t get it.
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mistermuse 8:44 am on February 19, 2018 Permalink |
Don, if I were the only one who is upset, I’d agree with you. But this goes beyond politics. I’m just one of millions who see the unfettered narcissism and uncivil tone (to put it generously) set by Trump inexorably becoming the ‘new normal’ in this country unless enough of us stand up to him. If you think this doesn’t matter, what more is there to say?.
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Don Frankel 10:01 am on February 19, 2018 Permalink |
Okay I get it and good luck.
Now you might imagine by living in New York I run into this with some of my very close friends so my new routine is to sing a little ditty from the movie The Producers. The original one and it’s the scene where Dick Shawn comes out on stage as Hitler for the first time and he is sitting at the piano and singing. “I’m gonna crush Poland and then take France. Then I’ll cross the English Channel and kick that guy in the pants.” Only I sing “that gal” because Theresa May is the current Prime Minister. There is no clip of this on youtube so consider it sung and imagine we’re both laughing.
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mistermuse 11:57 am on February 19, 2018 Permalink |
Well, at least with Theresa May, we may laugh. Even Hitler, that personification of evil, begged to be caricatured. But there’s no longer anything remotely funny to be found about Trump….though God knows I’ve tried.
As local standup comedian Mark Chalifoux put it in Jan. 2017, “There’s too much to focus on. Our attention span rarely allows us to move past his tweets to anything of substance. His presidency….is going to be exhausting. Trump is simply too easy to make fun of, [what with] years of hearing the same jokes about hair, orange skin, small hands and where you can grab women. Anyone with a keyboard will be beating a dead horse until long after it becomes a bag of bones.”
As I said before, we’ve reached a point where this goes beyond politics. This is about how we treat others and that old-fashioned notion of role model. I hope such values haven’t become associated with ‘losers.’ I think, or at least hope, these things still matter in New York; they still matter where I come from.
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The Coastal Crone 9:30 pm on February 19, 2018 Permalink |
I pity our vainglorious leader also. He has thrown the presidency away with both hands.
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mistermuse 11:12 pm on February 19, 2018 Permalink |
….or twittered it away! 😦
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markscheel1 9:37 pm on February 19, 2018 Permalink |
mistermuse,
Well, I read an article awhile ago that pointed out the Democrats said similar things of ridicule about Reagan, sonny Bush and now Trump. Also I heard a radio commentator assert recently that Trump is stupid—-“like a fox.” And went on to enumerate ways he’s outplayed the opposition and the media. Remember, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got. And concede this–Trump is in no way an ordinary politician! And we’re certainly getting something different! Ha.
Speaking of religion and “God concepts,” have you tried “panentheism”? (Not pantheism.) From that point of view, Trump might actually be divine! The thought! But no, not the Second Coming. Let’s not get carried away. LOL
I’d never heard Lady sing “Don’t Explain.” Thanks for that treat!
Mark
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Carmen 9:44 pm on February 19, 2018 Permalink |
The ‘something different’ that your country is getting is in no way funny. 😦
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markscheel1 2:21 am on February 20, 2018 Permalink
Hi Carmen,
The “laugh” wasn’t meant to refer to what the country is getting, but rather the irony of the whole situation and the differing opinions regarding it. A booming economy, stock market up, red-tape regs cut so business can produce, vital SCOTUS appointment, real tax relief–those are things I’m not “laughing” about.
Mark
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mistermuse 10:59 pm on February 19, 2018 Permalink |
Mark, when it comes to religion, I haven’t “tried” any of them in the sense of shopping around for one. I was born into Catholicism, but after years — decades, really — of growing increasingly unable to believe what the church believed, fell into deism (which is why I called myself a “default deist” in my post). I wasn’t looking for another religion, it was simply that I found that ‘where I was now at’ aligned with what deists like Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and (some say) Thomas Jefferson believed….at least, in meeting-of-the-minds terms (deism isn’t even a religion in the doctrinal sense).
You referred to Trump, but I’ve had my fill for now, so I’ll pass. As for the Lady Day (Billie Holiday) clip, she was well past her prime in 1958. There are recordings of her singing the song when she was much younger, but I opted for the clip I showed. Why? I defer to the title of this post.
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mistermuse 10:13 am on February 20, 2018 Permalink |
But at what cost, Mark? (re your reply to Carmen.) At what cost?
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markscheel1 4:38 pm on February 20, 2018 Permalink
Well, muse, with the currency I employ, I’d say it’s a bargain. Hmmmmm. Now, figure that one out. 😉
Mark
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mistermuse 12:20 am on February 21, 2018 Permalink |
Mark, I’m guessing that you deferred to the title of this post too.
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markscheel1 3:39 pm on February 22, 2018 Permalink |
muse,
That would be an appropriate assumption! 🙂 I’ve resolved to do memoir, not politics, as you know. Now, as an aside, Dee and I are back from the hospital. The heart procedure yesterday went well. (Ablation.) Great doctor. Wonderful nurses. Just wanted to let you know–“the beat goes on,” now normally! And I feel nothing but gratitude.
Mark
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mistermuse 7:14 pm on February 22, 2018 Permalink |
Glad to hear it, Mark. Great doctors aren’t always easy to come by. 🙂
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barkinginthedark 4:13 pm on August 22, 2019 Permalink |
Never apologize for hating Donald J. Trump. he is only worthy of hate – and nothing else. continue…
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