Distressed!

“Facing one of the most adversarial contests in recent history and daily coverage of the presidential election that dominates every form of mass media, 52 percent of American adults report that the 2016 election is a very or somewhat significant source of stress,”  according to the American Psychological Association.  What?  Only 52%!  I would think it would be a much larger number, and perhaps it is.  I wish 100% were stressed out!  We ought to be extremely distressed (filled with anxiety, sorrow,  pain, anguish, agony, torment, troubled, and heartbroken).  We should not simply feel, “a very or somewhat significant source of stress,”  but rather ought to be extremely distressed by the blatant disregard of the fundamentals of our democracy and the threat to human decency which this particular election has revealed.  

Fifty major newspaper editorial boards across the nation have weighed their options and in distress endorsed the Democratic party nominee.  With just a little over 12 days until election day, Donald Trump has racked up zero major newspaper endorsements, a first for any major party nominee in American history.  Even ‘The Atlantic,’ which has endorsed a candidate only two times (1860 and 1964) has declared:  “We are impressed by many of the qualities of the Democratic Party’s nominee for president, even as we are exasperated by others, but we are mainly concerned with the Republican Party’s nominee, Donald J. Trump, who might be the most ostentatiously unqualified major-party candidate in the 227-year history of the American presidency.”  Is this media bias?  Or is it sanity?

 A few days ago, former GOP Massachusetts governor Bill Weld (Libertarian party VP nominee) issued the following statement:  “After careful observation and reflection, I have come to believe that Donald Trump, if elected President of the United States, would not be able to stand up to this pressure and this criticism without becoming unhinged and unable to perform competently the duties of his office….Donald Trump should not, cannot, and must not be elected President of the United States.”  Mr. Weld is certainly distressed and continues to express it, by saying,  “…A serious candidate for the Presidency of the United States must be stable, and Donald Trump is not stable. Throughout this campaign, Mr. Trump has demonstrated an inability to handle criticism or blame well. His first instinct is to lash out at others. When challenged, he often responds as a child might. He makes a sour face, he calls people by insulting names, he waves his arms, he impatiently interrupts. Most families would not allow their children to remain at the dinner table if they behaved as Mr. Trump does. He has not exhibited the self-control, the discipline, or the emotional depth necessary to function credibly as a President of the United States.” 

Yet, only “52% of American adults report that the 2016 election is a very or somewhat significant source of stress?”  Unbelievable, when I am so distressed!

O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years
thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw, confirm thy soul
in self-control, thy liberty in law.