The Trump Effect

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anxiety, being present, chaos, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, Donald Trump, Fear, future, growing up, human behaviour, human nature, humanity, illusion of control, impatient, integrity, life, Life's like that, living in the moment, panic, peace, politics, Truth

You lose your grip and then you slip into the masterpiece.

~ Leonard Cohen

I’d like to tell you that I’m even-tempered. That I keep a cool head when my patience or my sense of right and wrong are being tested. That the minute I feel my jaw clench in anger, I am able to say some kind of catch phrase like Breathe or Let It Go and I’m magically transported to the present where the stuff I’m losing my cool about hasn’t happened yet and may never ever happen at all. But I’d be lying.

Truth is, this is something I’m always trying to grow into and although I’m getting better at it, I may never master it. But that’s ok as long as I’m trying, right?

What seems funny to me is that when I’m in the midst of ‘losing it,’ I feel perfectly justified. Yet when I see someone else behave in a similar manner, My mouth forms the word WOW and I think to myself, ‘What a wacko.’

The Donald and how some of us react to him is a good example of this. “Oh those bad Canadians, they’re really screwing us over in the milk industry and softwood lumber industry by doing this and that and the bad Mexicans, something to do with chickens blah, blah, blah…and so I’m going to renegotiate to get us a better deal or just pull out of NAFTA all together.”

And then chaos ensues and people are running around to research if what he is saying is really true and if he can actually do what he says he going to do and the news is consumed with the silliest debates, things we all thought we were clear on like is the sky really blue and we wonder well is it and then we think, hey wait a minute… Ugh I GOT CAUGHT UP IN THIS AGAIN!

I’m seriously starting to wonder if he is a genius in the sense that he can so easily get us so wound up and I bet he’s having a nap, or reading the paper or doing laps in a pool, or worse working on something he doesn’t want the public to know about, while we are reacting to a non issue!

Well as it turns out, he can’t just pull out of NAFTA. The worst he can do is sign an executive order that indicates he would like to pull out in six months and then it would go through this huge process and many others would have to want to do the same – bottom line – it’s a process that goes way beyond Donald’s mere wishes…

Anyway, my point really has nothing to do with NAFTA or Donald Trump or politics or how we should navigate these issues. It merely serves as a globally recognizable example of something I struggle with daily – to not immediately react to a situation, to not get pulled into someone else’s chaos, to just breathe, stay in the present and respond in a caring and appropriate way.

` DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

What’s the thing you struggle with? Can you think of a good Trump illustration for it? 😉

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Dear Would-Be Prime Ministers of Canada

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Canada, courage, Diana Schwenk, enviromental issues, fear mongering, Government of Canada, hair styles, healthcare, honesty, Hump Day Chronicles, integrity, Justin Trudeau, peace, politics, Prime Minister, rant, renewable energy, Stephen Harper, Tom Mulcair, war, world issues

AND SO A FEDERAL ELECTION has been called…

I could go on and on about income splitting, Marijuana legalization, minimum wage increases, Trudeau’s pretty hair, Harper’s Helmut hair, or how most of Mulcair’s hair is on his face.

Or I could rant about the Keystone Pipeline, the Northern Gateway Pipeline or the one going through Quebec.

I could write an essay about election advertising spending, retroactive laws, sneaky omnibus bills, freedom of speech for scientists, crooks in the Senate and who knows where else, fear mongering, Americanism, dragging Canadians into wars we have no business being in, bringing it to our doorstep and then pooh poohing all over our service men and women when they come home.

I could regale you with my thoughts on putting all our eggs into the Oil & Gas basket; a finite resource by the way (and the production thereof IS causing serious illnesses in Canadians and causing damage to our environment – that’s not even an arguable point anymore), without putting the same effort into developing alternative, or better yet, renewable energy.

I could point out that the trickle down theory is not working, that the poor are getting poorer, that the deaths of many aboriginal women continues to be swept under the rug, that our healthcare system is in huge trouble, the blatant disregard for our privacy and basic rights and how they are slowly being taken away from us; like putting a frog into a pot of water and gradually raising the heat, that by the time I retire, I’ll have a puny pension, my daughter won’t have one at all – all while you make sure that you have one, that my grandchildren may never know what a clean body of water looks like and my great-grandchildren will never see nature as I know it today.

I am angry. I have been angry for a long time about these and many other issues, but I’m not going to go there.  And I’m not going to buy into that bullshit that my voice means nothing anymore; that the government is a well-oiled machine that will just keep going like a bulldozer crushing everything in its path, regardless of opposition.

Instead, I’m going to shoot for the moon. I’m going to call you back to the basics would-be Prime Ministers.

I’m going to hold you accountable. You still work for the people, don’t you? Well I’m one of the people.

It’s time to break it down and build it up again.

Because I don’t think the government works anymore. I don’t believe in you anymore. I don’t trust you. I don’t think you remember the definition of democracy.

But go ahead and prove me wrong.

Make me believe you care about Canadians, all Canadians – present and future.

And here’s some little bonus tips for you. I’m not going to vote for the party that:

• has the best commercials, in spite of what your polls, focus groups and publicists tell you
• tells me who I shouldn’t vote for based on trivial grooming observations
• asks me to stand with them, without telling me why I should
• uses fear-mongering, bullying tactics or says that the loss of my privacy is for my own good
• acts the most American
• only cares about how they look and succeed in the short-term, while they’re in power, without considering future generations

*And don’t bother conducting a poll on the above mentioned items, I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this.

Sincerely a weary Canadian, Diana Schwenk of Calgary, Alberta

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

There are standards to which government, religion and higher education should be held. There are examples that politicians and principled businesspeople should endeavor to set, regardless of whether their peers are making that effort. There’s right and wrong, not just better or worse.

And there’s a word for recognizing and rising to that: leadership. We could use more of it. ~ NY Times, Weary of Relativity, May 23, 2015.

So You’re Writing A Book, Danielle…?

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Alberta, Alberta Election May 2015, Bonus Post, Danielle Smith, politics, rant

THE PC UPSET IS JUST THE THING you wanted to avoid, eh?

In your opinion the PCs and the Wild Rose should have merged because the combined seats that each party won would have added up to a majority government, right?

That’s why you crossed floor, you say…well that’s what you’re saying now.

Back then you fiercely opposed the PCs because they were just plain wrong about almost everything and then rather suddenly, over night it seemed, you could find no fault with the Prentice-led Government and crossed the floor just a few short days after lambasting others for doing that very thing!

Here’s what I think.

To borrow the words of another, “Somebody’s not very good with math” –  and I don’t mean the person the words were originally meant for.

The reason people voted the way they did may have more to do with the following:

1. You created confusion when you crossed the floor. I actually think Wild Rose may have won had you not done that – heck, I’d been thinking of voting for you and I’m a Liberal! I would like to note that the Wild Rose party didn’t do too shabby in this election though, in spite of you.
2. Most Albertans no longer trust the PCs – too many shady dealings and all. However, some still do have faith in the Wild Rose party and saw them as a better choice than the PCs. It’s NOT a given that a conservative majority would have resulted if everybody just listened to you. It’s possible that if the two parties had merged, the NDP would have won even more seats.

Yeah, I think your math is off, Danielle.

I think you crossing the floor was probably the last nail in the PC coffin.

And for that – at least – a lot of us are grateful to you.

Put that in your book.

WTH Danielle?

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#ableg, Alberta, Calgary, Danielle Smith, Diana Schwenk, politics, rant, Wildrose Party

An open letter to Danielle Smith:

At first I was just confused.

I was sure I was hearing it wrong.

Now, the more I think about it, the angrier I get!

Just a week or two ago you ended a friendship with someone who crossed the floor to the PCs. You said she would have to answer to her constituents!

Here’s the kicker, Danielle. I’m from the east originally, a staunch Liberal.

But I noticed you.

You seemed to be a woman of, and for, the people.

You seemed to speak your mind, defend your party members when controversies arose. I began to like you! I thought to myself, that woman’s got integrity. I started to believe there could be honest politicians.

I was seriously considering voting Wildrose in the next election. Several friends whom I deeply respect were backing you and entering into politics under the Wildrose banner. Well I guess we can be thankful that you showed your true colours before we really started believing in you!

And then this. You cross the floor and urge other members to do the same?

WTH Danielle?

I don’t know what kind of back room meetings you’ve been attending. But I do know you’re not a woman for the people. You’re a woman for yourself! Did you strategize a better career move with your decision? Are you drawing a better a salary?

A co-worker told me today that her parents figured they should just get a bunch of folks to run as PC members and then cross the floor to the NDP party when they’re elected. And why not, it’s no more of a mockery than you’ve committed.

Turns out that you’re just full of the same you-know-what you’ve been accusing the PCs of all along!  I guess I’m back to voting for the least offensive person again in the next election.

As for you, you’ll be answering to your constituents, I imagine.

What a disappointment you’ve turned out to be.

Diana Schwenk, Calgary AB