On Rhetoric

I made the mistake of opening up the Book of Faces (because I really did need to check on how my ads are doing - they can't just run in a vacuum) last night. I...really don't get people.

One writer friend was talking about how "he's only been a dictator for three weeks."

Dictator? Really?

I suppose that's because of the executive orders? The same ones that basically every president in history has used? And you can't even say he's used more than anyone else, because he used fewer in his first term than those in recent years and yes, he's done a lot with them at the start, but there's nothing to say that will continue without ebbing (I believe it will. Maybe I hope it will? Point being, I don't think anyone would stand for four years of governing by fiat. Maybe I'm wrong. But I really don't think so.)

The rest were all up in arms about Canada, Mexico, migrants and...basically anything that is disturbing their liberal status quo.

Am I uncomfortable with the way some of this is being approached? A little, yes. But I had a good friend explain it to me this way before the inauguration (and it made a lot of sense - and also so far is playing out to be true). He said, in essence, "He comes from business and Hollywood. He's a negotiator. So he'll come in with something outlandish that he knows he's not going to get. It's an opening move in negotiation to bring people to the table and work them back down to what you intended in the first place. The way he does it? With theater and bluster? That's because of Hollywood. And it serves to get people to underestimate his business sense and miss what he's really doing because they get caught up in the drama."

The first part is what hit home the most. Because I really do hate negotiation. Buying cars, haggling in markets where such is not only accepted but expected, that sort of thing? I hates it. I can do it, but I cringe inside. And I'm not always as willing to say, "Okay. No deal." and walk away as you have to be in those situations if it's going to work out. But my dad is amazing at this. And he will absolutely walk away -- and has been chased into the parking lot by car dealers saying, "No no no, we can do that. And here's this other amazing thing we'll throw in to get you back to the table."

So yeah. I'm kind of viewing this current political season as Dad in a car dealership trying to bring them down to a reasonable number below invoice. It makes it all a lot more palatable.

As for immigration? Well, I'm a fan of legal immigration. I'm a fan of upholding the international requirements for asylum for refugees. I'm a fan of reminding people of allllll the countries where you can't just walk in and decide to live because they'll deport you faster than you can say howdy. Why shouldn't the US be able to do the same? I really sometimes want to suggest to people who get all up in arms about it that they move somewhere they'd like to live without going through proper channels and see how that works out for them.

But I keep my mouth shut. Because the one thing that could actually help with the division in our nation is calm, nuanced conversations. And that's not something most people seem to be capable of these days.