In Depth: Post-Election Healing

Segment One: The Lincoln Project

One of the co-founders of the Lincoln Project, Mike Madrid, joins Hal to talk about the impact of the recent presidential election. Meadows explains how the Lincoln project got started, with Republicans who didn’t believe that Donald Trump represented traditional Republican values, and who believe he is a threat to the American experiment. They committed themselves to make sure he did not win a second term.

Madrid discusses why polling turned out to be so inaccurate and says that it’s not a matter of bias as much as a problem of having more trouble socially and technologically to find out people’s opinions.

Madrid says if he could talk to the president, he’d tell him to have some class and to pack his bags and get out of the White House. He adds Trump actually has no end game, it’s all about protecting his ego. Madrid says he’s just embarrassing himself and debasing the country. He says it’s time for those around the president to step up so the country can move on. He says there’s a very dangerous populist nationalism infecting the country, which is very anti-science and anti-facts and that is very troubling for the future of democracy.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: How can America heal after a divisive election?

Segment Two: Healing America

Mike Madrid is back, answering the question of what we have to do to move forward out of our hatred and division. Madrid says we have to love each other and our country more than our political parties, but that’s very hard for people to do right now. He says for the first time, people fear the opposite political parties more than foreign intervention. He says we won’t be able to pull together until we have a president who says he a leader for all people; who doesn’t divide us into red and blue states.

Madrid says that there are a lot of Trump supporters who simply want to believe their own facts, people who only want violence and to destroy America rather than to see it moved in a different direction.

Madrid says the Lincoln Project utilizes social media, so he can’t condemn it. He does say that Facebook doesn’t do a good enough job of policing the groups who aim to destroy America. 

He says there is a dangerous desire on both sides to delegitimize the other side, which is a threat to America.  He says we need to find commonalities that both sides can support, such as supporting the Constitution, shunning foreign influence in politics and elections, and until we can do that we can’t save our Democracy.

Segment Three: Healing Personal Relationships

Psychotherapist Josh Jonas joins Hal to talk about the breaches in relationships that have occurred during the political season. Jonas says that when people are in a relationship, where the most important person in their life doesn’t agree with their values and ethics, and what makes up a good life, that can feel very scary and threatening. He says when couples begin some self-examination rather than blaming each other, that healing can begin. He says a person has to start with themselves to see how they aren’t allowing another point of view to exist.

Hal asks how people can handle the holiday season. Jonas says we are born biologically needing to connect, and if we can’t do it, that is threatening and scary. Online platforms can help in terms of staying connected, even though it won’t be the same as we might hope.

Segment Four: Wrap-Up

We end with the 80th birthday tribute to John Lennon, a charity presentation benefiting “War Child.”  An organization providing support for children in war torn countries.