Bob Schwartz

How can I miss you when you won’t go away?
I keep telling you day after day
But you won’t listen, you always stay and stay
How can I miss you when you won’t go away?
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks

It is hard not to think about Trump. It is hard not to talk about Trump. We got so used to talking about him every day, multiple times a day. The same goes for the news media, who at least have the excuse that what Trump is doing or might do, or what others or might do about him, is news.

What’s my excuse? What’s your excuse? Yes, his toxic legacy is everywhere and will be for a long time, hopefully shorter than longer time. But remember what we learned over the past years: just thinking and talking about him is itself toxic, even if it was to point out his most recent immorality or crime.

Will he continue to act badly as a private citizen? Will he, or members of his family, or those in his vicious circle of enablers and followers, be punished for what they did or what they still might do? Will Melania divorce him? Will he finally lose a little weight, or will he continue to blow up in a contest to see whether he or Barr or Pompeo can be the fattest? Will he finally be exiled to Elba? These and other questions are superficially interesting but ultimately not in our best interest.

Let those who have direct responsibility for dealing with his wrongdoing do their job. Otherwise, observers can note the results with approval or disappointment, but with beneficial reduced psychic investment.

In the wisdom words of Garth Algar in Wayne’s World: “Stop torturing yourself. Live in the now.”