COLD ANGER

It's time for Cold Anger and a lot less Hot Anger.

Hot Anger is, well, hot. Flammable. Easily co-opted by others for their own causes. Even turned against us. Hot Anger is directed at a target we cannot obtain. It's the easy joining of friends to parade our anger when we feel helpless. The destruction of what is in our path because the real cause of our anger is beyond our reach.

Trump is President-elect. Barring jail, while possible since he is in court for both fraud and rape, his taking office is immutable. Spending time trying to undo over two centuries of the peaceful transfer of power will only lead to failure. Or perhaps lead to the destruction of the country we want so desperately to save from what will certainly be a cruel and chaotic four years.

Cold Anger is that roiling in the pit of our stomach, present constantly and not allayed since November 8th. Cold Anger tells us we must act. Cold Anger is sustainable. Cold Anger looks at the situation, parses it for possible alternatives, organizes like minded others and takes targeted action. Cold Anger changes what it sees in front of it, one task at a time. Cold Anger parades only for a specific, attainable objective.

Right now we are in that restless grief that knows there is a next step, but cannot see that step clearly. I am there too.

Here is what I will do first. I will commit myself to helping others stay safe. This is on me. I can choose to do this without permission or agreement from others

I will speak up. I will speak against racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, and every other act that threatens another citizen based on their race, country of birth, color, religion, sexual preference or gender identity. I will act to stop any of the above, right there, as it is happening. Verbal or physical. If I need more training to understand how to intervene effectively, I'll get that training.

I will have this conversation and encourage others to have this conversation with friends, neighbors, book clubs, bowling leagues, golf games, card games, potlucks, dinner parties, social media, any gathering of people who care about America. I will be insistently polite, but I will not be afraid; I will not be silenced.

Second, I will pay attention. I will know what is happening and know the facts. I will understand the options for alternatives when I disagree. I will not hide in everyday life. I will not retreat just because I am not the first affected, the first to be attacked, the first to lose my American rights or benefits. I will not bury my head until it is my ox being gored.

Third, I will constantly be on the lookout for those who believe as I do, for allies. While I can do much as an individual, we are not just stronger together, we are more effective at producing change together. And I will not just look at traditional allies. As the Trump Presidency proceeds, more and more of his supporters will understand the con for which they fell. It is not too soon to begin talking and gathering strength.

I will not wait for a "leader". I will gather real people, join our minds and hearts and trust that leadership will emerge; whether sooner or later.

All of the above is a big ask. Consult the pit of your stomach to know if it is worth the effort.

DEAR TRUMP PROTESTORS

Dear Trump Protesters:

I get it. I really do; both the anti-Trump gut-wrenching feeling and the need to DO something. In my opinion Trump is a malignant narcissist and as President would bring this country to its knees. And protesting? Been there in every decade since the sixties.

Yet this time, there is an action you can take that would really make a difference, not just make a public spectacle. Even better this plan is peaceful, democratic and, best of all, likely to actually defeat Trump. You see, protesting, even peacefully, feeds Trump's inherent narcissism. Less than peaceful protests let both Trump supporters, and others, hear the destruction and miss the message.

So I propose you still gather (call it a protest if you wish) outside Trump events. But instead of shouting slogans, waving signs and risking out of control behavior by even a few errant protestors -  register voters. This seems simple and for some the work of election democracy is not nearly as glamorous as the chanting, waving, media attention grabbing protest. However, if you truly want to stop Trump, then it is the ballot box which is the final barrier. If Trump breaches the ballot box, all the protest in the world will be useless.

Try this three step program instead:

First, learn how to register in your state. Know the rules backward and forward and upside down. (You are registered, aren't you?)

Second, register everyone you see protesting Trump. (If they are protesting and are not registered to vote, shame on them!) If you can, give out registration cards, wait as they are filled out and turn them in. Bring a registrar if possible. If voters must register in person at a specific place, make sure that complete voter registration information is on a handy, small card you an give out. Hand them out by the thousands; including before and after any rally. And do the same any place where people gather. Offer rides. Go along. Buy coffee.

Third, join your local democratic campaign. Workers who will register voters, go door-to-door, make phone calls, stuff envelopes, put up yard signs and dozens of other tasks are always needed. Glamour? No. Effective? Yes.

Elections are not won by crowds, either at rallies or in protests, but by voters who actually vote on election day. Never lose sight of that fact.

RESPECT

You may have played fair last night, but you didn't play smart. There's lots of talk about how Hillary Clinton will need Bernie Sanders supporters in the fall so she should be careful not to alienate them. It does not seem to have occurred to Sanders supporters that if he wins the nomination, the reverse will be true - perhaps more so - for him. Last night was your chance and you blew it.

I'll give you that the physical layout wasn't helpful in clarifying that we are all one party. Sitting on opposite sides of the gym made it feel like a football pep rally and you responded in kind. Running up and down the sidelines prompting the wave, cheers and foot stomping before we began was a nice display of electoral enthusiasm (that is what it was, right?), but not once, then or later, did any Sanders backer cheer our party, our unity.

And once the caucus started, it was clear you were there to demonstrate not caucus. You see, a caucus rather than a more traditional primary vote, is used when a party actually wants to achieve unity. Note I did not say consensus. Yes, we vote and the Sanders turnout was overwhelming and clear from the beginning. But the whole point of a caucus is to discuss the candidates and for each to try and persuade the other that they have the better candidate. At the very least to educate. Vote Blue, No Matter Who is more than a slogan. And if we can't talk to and persuade each other, how the hell are we going to win an election that depends entirely on persuading less involved and less sympathetic voters?

Those who spoke for Sanders did not even turn in our direction, used pep rally speech rather than persuasion and never recognized that the goal was to bring us together in common cause. Pumping up the already committed is for Sanders rallies, caucuses have a very different goal. No Sanders speaker indicated they would be behind whichever candidate won the nomination.

As a Clinton supporter, I did not expect to win the vote last night. But I did expect to be respected. When our speakers turn came they faced hoots, hollers, boos and derision. It felt like a Trump rally.

If you are a Sanders supporter who was present last night, why should you care? You "won". Here's why. While I may not believe you will get the nomination, you clearly believe so. And if that happened, you need us. The caucus was your chance to show us how we would be treated in a Sanders campaign; to persuade us that he was worth not just our vote, but our efforts. Because here is the dirty little secret of political campaigns...they are damned hard work and take every one's top effort.

You know the 300 of you last night? In order to win in November, EACH of you will need to contact, persuade, convince and convert about 30 more people. At least. Not just friends, not those who are already on board. They don't count in your total. Once the Convention is over in July you will give up your summer and fall, you holidays and weekends, your sports, your family outings and you will work. Unglamorous work this is; a phone to your ear, door-to-door, begging for money and votes, early mornings and late nights, side by side with those who may have initially backed a different candidate. And then you will have to do it all over again on election day to get each of those voters to the polls. For the many of you who caucused with us because you are in school here, but do not actually live here...will you be back to help not just the top of the ticket, but all those local candidates you barely acknowledged last night?

I've spent the better part of the last month promoting the Vote Blue No Matter Who movement. In nearly fifty years of campaigns, caucuses and conventions, I've always understood that in the end we needed to be united behind whichever candidate prevailed; to work willingly and unceasingly on their behalf in the election. But I left the caucus last night feeling terribly disrespected and in doubt about how I could possibly vote for Bernie. Enthusiasm cannot substitute for respect for the process and the other participants.