Best way to respond to political bullying (2)
Thank you, Dr. Gries, for your letter regarding political bullying. As you have earned your PhD in psychology, I am happy to receive your professional opinion.
However, since psychology is not an exact science, but rather a theoretical one, I must respond with my educated opinion – one formulated and gained through life and interaction with others.
As I began reading your letter, I felt that it flowed nicely in the right direction.
Yes, the first two paragraphs were right on the mark! Sigmund Freud would have been proud of you, that is, until your third paragraph where you suddenly digress and start to bring up names and accusations instead of remaining neutral.
You had me totally fooled. I thought that this was a letter regarding appropriate behavior- no, it was just another political slap in the face to anybody who did not agree with you politically, anybody who cared to stand for anybody with whom you would not agree.
You blindsided me! Absolutely no reason existed for you to bring up Donald Trump if the intent was to point out or define correct behavior. Your next statement referred to the need for aggressive assertiveness.
Isn’t this exemplified by Trump’s response to the voices that would silence him? He has been maligned, attacked and insulted by the media and the political left. Should he simply slink off into the shadows and turn the other cheek?
Would you remain silent and passive if a group of patients or peers suddenly churned out a string of insults against you or your intentions? I doubt it. Man is not meant to be passive, and if our president will not stand up for himself, who will?
After eight years of sluggish economy, divisive behavior and destruction of moral health promoted by the previous administration, your words are an insult to anyone of integrity who cares about this great country!
Then you write, “When Democrats confronted Brett Kavanaugh about his lying under oath,” I am now infuriated. It was the plaintiff side that presented the false accusations and false evidence, and witnesses who recanted or rebutted all of the lies – all Democrats!
Therein lies the rub! You say the Democrats failed to stand up and raise their voices. Absurd. How much footage exists of pitiful Maxine Waters, sorrowful Elizabeth Warren, misguided bully Robert DeNiro and their Queen Hillary promoting civil disobedience and protest, now to the level that it triggered a wacko with a criminal record to produce mail bombs, sixteen at last count, and somehow think he could exact revenge?
Yes, his acts were despicable, but so were those by the “leaders” named in my previous sentence.
I quote your final paragraph, “An assertive display of anger is genuine, emotional and unequivocal. It communicates that the offensive words or behavior will not be tolerated or ignored, and that business, as usual, shall not be conducted until this is corrected.”
I completely back you up on this statement with one condition: This rule or condition shall be applied equally to all parties- Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Liberal, government or civilian, etc., including our President!
No matter one’s status or position, it’s high time we all started acting like Americans and civil beings. Having lived through this once before in the 1960s and 70s, I’m sick and tired of the name-calling and the violence.
The world is filled with opinions and personalities, but that is not what drives this country. Let’s show that E Pluribus Unum doesn’t just reflect on national origin but exemplifies listening to those diverse opinions, and from them formulating a just path to solutions. Isn’t that what America is supposed to be?
It’s what I was taught. Perhaps it’s not too late for others to learn the same.
Eric Spinner
Proud American Veteran, Retired Educator
New Hyde Park
