How can one room contain so much smug arrogant assholery?

[nadine_mn]

I confess that I am naive and have a tendency to want to believe people are good and decent. Well up until recently....I just thought that smarmy ickiness that exudes from people like Ryan, OConnell, Tim Cotton, Palin, Joni Ernst etc etc was limited in scope.

I could only look at clips of 45's remarks, because seeing that smug "look Mom I'm a big boy" smirk on his face makes me ill. But looking at the other members of Congress, and seeing them all just smile, nod and clap....knowing this man is a fraud, knowing that they are going forth with an agenda that will hurt so many people and I am just stunned.

I don't expect politicians to be squeaky clean - no one is perfect, and power has certain temptations. But if the majority of your actions benefit the American people, I can handle it. There are politicians who truly care about the people they represent and feel their pain. Hillary is one, Al Franken, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren. I may not agree with everything they say or do, but I'd trust them to hold my purse and dogsit my furry loved ones.

But tonight I saw a large group of selfish, arrogant, smug, heartless assholes who honestly don't care about anyone but themselves. And it truly shakes me to my core. One crazy orange nut job in power is a fluke, but a couple hundred is terrifying. And knowing that there are millions of people at home with all this hatred and bigotry boiling up inside them, now free to show their true selves makes it hard to sleep at night.

For 90% of you this is old news. You probably wonder what has taken me so long...but as I said at the beginning of this post - I'm naive and want to see the good in others. Because personally, I could not imagine a scenario where, in front of millions of people, a person could say to a grieving widow that her late husband would be smiling at how much applause they received. I could not look someone in the eye who has a pre existing condition and say they are scammers. I could not put together a sentence that said a 5 yr old refugee could be a threat and deserves to be detained. And this is happening hundreds of times a day: in interviews, in closed door meetings, in town halls. This isn't a fluke...this a nightmare.

[world wide wally]

1. This is America 2017

[sprinkleeninow]

2. been a long time comin'

what's been in the works for decades has just reared its ugly head. you 'sleep' at nite then you awake to a nightmarish reality.

pence's and ryan's smirky faces tonite made me want to hurl. i dint watch in entirety. i thot it would be more of a spectacle. his handlers prolly told him, "cool your jets".

if i do bits and pieces like calling our reps. , donating to political causes, etc. that relieves some of the distress/anxiety i could veer into that'll make a body sick. and dammit i won't let toxic people throw that on me.

be well!

[Cosmocat]

9. THIS

Since the early 90s ....

[Sebasdad22]

3. Blame Rupert Murdock

More than anyone.

[AJT]

4. And the MSM ate it up.

[pinboy3niner]

5. The only part of the speech Dems liked was the attack on Obamacare

As Colbert put it, "People got so excited just hearing Obama's name."

[nadine_mn]

11. ok that's funny lol. Also the look on Franken's face

I usually make that face when one of our dogs fart

[Frogg]

6. So eloquently put

You have expressed the exact feelings I have regarding this horror. It hurts me to the core to see this Caligula-esque festival of cruelty, despotism and downright shameful and disgusting celebratory hatred. It makes me sick in my soul. I feel somewhat naive too because up until a few months ago, I had begun to think the human race was moving towards a more enlightened state of awareness. Boy was I wrong. Best thing I can do is to hold onto my faith and hope that maybe from this nightmare, the real state of awareness is exposed and dealt with accordingly. For the past ten years, I have retreated from the outside world. I live with my family of fur babies and the wildlife here in my mountain hideaway. Soooo glad I am somewhat isolated from the world right now. Just don't think I can face interacting with too many people while this is happening. Thanks for sharing this post. I keep thinking at some point maybe I will become numb to this or maybe harden to it. But that is not happening. In fact, I think it is getting worse. DU is such a treasure to me right now. I truly appreciate the therapy it provides with posts such as yours. We are not alone. In my heart I believe the tide will turn. The pendulum will swing resoundingly in the opposite direction.

[nadine_mn]

14. So glad someone understands that feeling of horror

This stuff - hatred and nastiness let loose, just hurts my heart. I keep retreating further and further. I am by nature an optimist (a happy person with depression - which is odd) I am always looking for silver linings and the good. Fortunately, I am married to a cynic or I guess others would consider 'normal' and he balances us out. I get stuck on the "why" - why would someone be so nasty, whereas my husband points that they just are and now we need to deal with it.

I have been listening to a fantastic podcast (the Dollop) that tells stories from American history with a humorous take on them - and now learning just how we've always been a nation full of smug nasty assholes.

I might have to find my own hideaway

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Reagan and inevitable devolution.

It didn't meaningfully exist when Gerald Ford was president.

[bearssoapbox]

8. " smug arrogant assholery"

You described them perfectly.

I thought Pence was looking at him like he wanted to have his baby and Ryan was smirking so big you could hardly see the shit on his nose.

I just hope that we can wiping those smug-ass looks off their faces starting next year.

[coco22]

10. I have been telling my friends and family for decades..

Last edited Wed Mar 1, 2017, 09:05 AM - Edit history (1)

and they thought it was all a conspiracy.. Now they call me nonstop asking what is going on.

Now they see why I screamed at the tv or radio with these words "YOU DIRTY MFKER!"People who never paid attention are talking. Now they see there are so many of them.

[nadine_mn]

13. I think there are people who don't want to see it and people

who can't wrap their mind around how it exists. I am part of the latter. I have this problem with a lot of things: racism, homophobia, sexism, cruelty to others, cruelty to animals. I do not deny for a second that people have experienced horrible things at the hands of others. I try to put my self in other people's shoes, to try to understand them better (which made a great victim advocate, though I got burned out). And I try that with these GOP assholes and supporters and I just can't. I can't understand how, aside from serious mental illness, a person can be so greedy, so selfish, so hateful. And there are so many. My response in any given situation is why wouldn't you help someone who needed it/be kind/show compassion and their response is why would you.

So sometimes, like with this election - the reality hits me so hard it hurts my soul and that happened again last night. I was hopeful after all the marches and protests that maybe the good can outnumber the shitty.

[OliverQ]

12. Because they're in power

Repubs have all the power and will never face consequences for their treason, corruption, or destruction of this country. That easily puts a smug face on horrible humans like them.