January 2, 2020

"It turns out... that staying away from the daily distractions of Trump has not been restorative. You can turn off the Trump show, but..."

"... the nagging, unfortunate reality is that the show goes on, with or without you," wrote Susan B. Glasser in The New Yorker, in "Our Year of Trumpschmerz." She says she "unplug[ged] over the holiday week."

To me, she and her fellow anti-Trumpers are part of the nagging, unfortunate reality show that is the Trump era. The anti-Trumpers like to depict Trump as a big baby, but they've been having a 3-year tantrum. They never accepted his victory in an election, and now they've got a new election creeping up on them, and they can't freak out into a higher level of dismay at the prospect of his reelection.

Glasser offers the word "Trumpregierungsschlamasselschmerz" to denote "the ceaseless anxiety and absurdity" she (and presumably everyone she knows) feels while Trump is President.
On the brink of a new year, Trumpregierungsschlamasselschmerz has come to dominate our collective psyche.
The "collective psyche" does not include the millions of people who actually love Trump and the millions more who enjoy or tolerate his style and like some or a lot of what he's doing. Personally, I don't like the idea of a "collective psyche." It sounds fascist to me... especially with that German word stamped on it... even in its shortened form Trumpschmerz.

Glasser tells us that "-schmerz" means a "continuous pain or ache of the soul that results from excessive contemplation of it all." The solution to excessive anything is to scale back to the right amount.

59 comments:

David Begley said...

Dear Susan Glasser:

I’m sorry you are mentally ill. Out here in flyover country, we aren’t.

stevew said...

She won't say so directly but I suspect MIL is suffering from this schmerz thingy that Glasser describes. I am tempted to send her the Nicholas Kristof article about how fabulous things have become for humanity (lower poverty, lower infant mortality, fewer conflicts), but pretty sure I don't want to be the asshole that attacks her schmerz; she seems to be enjoying it.

Shouting Thomas said...

Trump has been a remarkably successful president.

The left isn't outraged over his demeanor. They're outraged over his success.

They hoped that a popular demand for impeachment would evidence itself over the holidays, with the SJW scolds haranguing their families over the dinner table. That didn't happen.

Here in NY, I can see the grand plan the left has for the U.S. The city and state are in the process of letting all the petty thugs out of jail, and ceasing enforcement of minor, violent crimes. Soon, they'll be giving the freed thugs jobs as security personnel and poverty consultants.

Watched "Joker" last night. NYC is headed back to the madness of the crack epidemic era. And, this is what the left wants. The movie depicts quite vividly the left's ambitions.

wendybar said...

She needs a psychiatrist. Hilarious how many mentally challenged people there are out there who think they are above everybody else!!!

Mr. Forward said...

“To me, she and her fellow anti-Trumpers are part of the nagging, unfortunate reality show that is the Trump era.”
Maybe, but wasn’t “Trumpshmertz” one of those Twilight Zone episodes on last week’s marathon?

Laslo Spatula said...

"..."-schmerz" means a "continuous pain or ache of the soul that results from excessive contemplation of it all.""

Clickschmerz. Continuous painful internet writing from souls that ache from their excessive TDS, all desperately searching for clicks to validate their suffering.

Similar to "-schmaltz", which means 'continuous pain or ache of the soul that wallows in rendered animal fat.'

I am Laslo.

Bob Boyd said...

I think Susie is gonna feel schmerzier before she feels better again.
But that's okay. It's a schmerz of choice.

chuck said...

Maybe she should stop reading the New Yorker.

rehajm said...

The left isn't outraged over his demeanor. They're outraged over his success.

They’re outraged not by the demeanor but that a President with that demeanor is a Republican...

I think the outrage is exacerbated by the fact the -schmertz or bratty fit was supposed to get rid of Trump and it isn’t working. Where do you go from there?

Leland said...

I support Trump yet I don't obsess over him like anti-Trumpers. I am upset that Democrats rather remove Trump rather than properly curtail the power of the President by removing the ability to use a pen and a phone. But I see the long game and understand what they are doing. In the meantime, Trump is properly using the power invested with him so is McConnell at the moment.

EdwdLny said...

Well, I ,for one ,hope she and those of her ilk suffer for years decades even to come.

rhhardin said...

Trump government mess pain

Fernandinande said...

There some noxious-sounding German word for enjoying a New Yorker's Trumpschmerz. That's what I'm doing.

rhhardin said...

Brillenbrillanz

The sudden, innervating clarity afforded by new glasses

LordSomber said...

"Schmerz" is where we get the verb "smarts," as in "Ouch, that really smarts" -- although "butthurt" might be a more precise term in this particular case.

MartyH said...

Does she list the awful things did Trump did during her unplugged week? I think Robert Palmer had it right: “You’re gonna have to face it- you’re addicted to Trump.”

Temujin said...

New Yorkers still in a fetal position where they have been since Nov. 2016.
The best and the brightest, eh?

Amadeus 48 said...

Great.

She has Trumpentraurig. I have Glasserschmerz.

Enjoy the new year.

Temujin said...

One other comment. I was out last night with a group of people. Among the group was a couple from NYC. She was miserable. He was holding his own, but followed his wife's misery at a lower level. The rest of the group, from all over, but mostly the midwest, were terrific. Fun, funny, happy. Talking about things other than politics. The NYC couple completely fit my description of today's Democrats- the most miserable people in the room. Any room.

narciso said...

Remnick seems to have been similarly verklempt.

JAORE said...

Can there be a 25th Amendment like requirement for removal from the voter lists?

Them peeples be nutz!

J L Oliver said...

stabiles Genie

J L Oliver said...

sehr stabiles Genie

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

I think Glasser wants to encourage regarding some immigrants as ... you know, not quite right. Of some individuals you just think: he's not one of us. He's too, you know, German. In Lincoln's great "electric cord" speech--in favour of immigration, and offering his personal welcome to immigrants--he made it clear he had German and other northern European immigrants largely in mind. They faced discrimination and bigotry, long before the twentieth century.

pacwest said...

"On the brink of a new year, Trumpregierungsschlamasselschmerz has come to dominate our collective psyche."

Welcome to the Hotel TDS. You can check in anytime you like...

tcrosse said...

Mit der Trumpschmerz kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens.

Bob Boyd said...

On the brink of a new year, Trumpregierungsschlamasselschmerz has come to dominate our collective psyche.

They're all wee-wee'd up.

Michael K said...

One of the NTs over at Ricochet used that term, or a very similar one, in a post last weekend. It seems that Ricochet is down to about three NTs. Two years ago, it seemed a majority.

I suspect this is coordinated somewhere.

Iman said...

I’ve got a continuous pain or ache in the ass that results from excessive exposure to people like Susan Glasser.

Known Unknown said...

What's German for incessant whining?

MD Greene said...

Leave the poor woman alone. It's not easy living in an echo chamber.

Big Mike said...

There are lots and lots of ways to relieve her Trumpschmerz: a piece of rope, overdosing in pain meds, a razor blade applied to the wrist while soaking in nice warm bathtub, passing the word to Chappaqua that you have dirt on the Clintons, ...

tcrosse said...

What's German for incessant whining?

das Gejammer.

rcocean said...

Why is the New Yorker and the NYT's so "German". If they're not quoting German philosophers, they're giving us some ersatz Kraut lingo. The Democrats and the Media could have put on their Big Boy pants and worked with Trump in 2017, instead they've obstructed and refused to pass any necessary or good legislation. They're behavior over Kavanaugh was hysterical.

On Blogging-heads, bob wright says he'll "do something" to protest Trump's re-election but he'll eschew violence. I doubt many of his fellow Leftists will be so reasonable. Look at the D's and the MSM to crank it up to Crazy x 10, if Trump wins.

rcocean said...

Of course, its hard to see what the MSM can do to be more anti-Trump. 92% negative coverage. Every story is anti-Trump in someway. Every story that helps him, is either buried or twisted into an attack. And you have crazy Leftists, who aren't satisfied and want the news media to LIE even more about him.

God help us when these clowns cover a D President. It will go to 92% positive coverage. And it'll be like Pravada covering Stalin.

Kevin said...

You can turn off the Trump show, but the nagging, unfortunate reality is that the show goes on, with or without you

Shorter Glasser: It's not what he's doing, but that he's there.

That's been apparent to the non-deranged for quite some time.

gerry said...

Glasser offers the word "Trumpregierungsschlamasselschmerz" to denote "the ceaseless anxiety and absurdity" she (and presumably everyone she knows) feels while Trump is President.

I feel relief that Donald J. Trump is President Trump. I am also grateful for all the stress his presidency inflicts upon the pompous assholes who hate me for so many reasons, and who want to censor me, silence me, and persecute me.

I - as well as, I am sure, many U.S. embassy personnel and their loved ones - thank God for President Trump!

Now, if only I can figure out a way to eliminated the ProgressiveDemocratregierungsschlamasselschmerz in my life.

Skeptical Voter said...

I dunno Ms. Glasser. My psyche is tanned, rested and ready to vote for Trump next November.

I've lately been on a bit of a John P. Marquand novel reading binge. In the novel I'm currently reading, he has two characters Fred and Beckie who (a) are wealthy; (b) have a habit of speaking of "little people"; (c) have absolutely appalling kitsch taste in decorating their farmhouse in Connecticut; and(d) are thoroughly detestable. I'm sure Ms. Glasser would feel comfortable with Fred and Beckie. If she's also wealthy, they could be soul mates.

As for me, I live in coastal California, but my soul mates are in flyover country.

Michael K said...

I've lately been on a bit of a John P. Marquand novel reading binge.

I highly recommend "Sincerely Willis Wayde." It is a nice picture of New England old families in the 1920s and 30s. Marquand mostly hated these people (the rich) but was envious. He is a favorite writer, along with Neville Shute.

Quaestor said...

Mit der Trumpschmerz kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens.

Days to the Demodämmerung: 305

narciso said...

Some context for the last few days


https://mobile.twitter.com/Doranimated/status/1212442876958986245

Caligula said...

Whatever Trumpschmerz actually is, it's all too apparent that New Yorker magazine writers and editorial staff all seem to have acquired a severe case of it.

Does it not seem strange to New Yorker staff that this psychological distress is always with them, even when they take the trouble to avoid listening or watching Pres Trump? Could it be (perchance) that the fault lies not in Trump but in themselves?

cubanbob said...

gerry @ 10.12: well said indeed. As of this writing the market is up 190 points. That is something we can safely assume would not happen if the Democrats were to regain the presidency and the senate.

RigelDog said...

No, "schmertz" means physical pain, not just existential soul-sadness.

Yancey Ward said...

I would like to point Ms. Glasser to the recent advances in suicide techniques- she is in deep need of them.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

What is best in life?"
"To crush your enemies -- See them driven before you, and
to hear the Trumpregierungsschlamasselschmerz of their women!"

...and, of course, schadenfreude

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Ja, und you are flabby und veak !!

...Enjoy the "Trumpin '20's", luuzahz!!

Earnest Prole said...

Glasser tells us that "-schmerz" means a "continuous pain or ache of the soul that results from excessive contemplation of it all."

Maybe it will help if she thinks of it as a feature not a bug.

elkh1 said...

The insane tries to pull us into her asylum.

Bill Peschel said...

I had to deal with this crap from George W. Bush and Obama, so that was 16 years for me.

I worked in a newsroom, so they had CNN on all the time, even though we were copy editors.

Drove me nukkin futz.

Suck it up, buttercup.

Sebastian said...

"they've been having a 3-year tantrum"

Right after they accused Trump of not agreeing to accept the outcome of the election if Hillary won.

Anyway, we deplorables are of course outraged at the Russia collusion hoax and the impeachment coup attempt, but we are pleased progs and swamp dwellers are now out in the open, clear enough to see even for Althouse, and we have enjoyed three years of Trumpschmerzfreude.

Amadeus 48 said...

Re: Marquand

The Late George Apley; Sincerely, Willys Wade; Wickford Point, and Point of No Return are all wonderful books about the uneasiness of America’s upper middle class in the thirties, forties, and fifties.

Marquand was the American Anthony Trollope. He captured the anxieties of the old New England families as the world turned them from business owners into employees, bankers, and trustees.

These stories are acutely observed and humanely told. Great stuff.

walter said...

Die hintern verletzt.

narciso said...

I'm not making this up,


https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/anti-semitism-grows-in-jewish-communities-in-nyc-suburbs/2253546/?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_NYBrand

Ken B said...

Amadeus 48
The Mr Moto guy?

Bunkypotatohead said...

It would be interesting if we could view an alternate world where Donald Trump ran as a Democrat and won. How would the New Yorkers with the schmerz be reacting to that?

I tend to think everything in politics is a case of whose ox was gored.
There aren't any principles. None.

Lazarus said...

So is Adam Schiff the Trumpenschlemiel or the Trumpenschlimazel?

And does that make Jerry Nadler the Fabulous Mr. Trumpenschimazel?

And when is Trumpenschanz, the political mask and puppet show coming to town?

Martin said...

As usual, this says more about the twisted mind of the author than it does about Trump, who does not appear to show any great anxiety about Ms. Glasser.

Terry Ott said...

This New Yorker chatterer is the worst kind of blithering pop psycholgist. Being able to write does not make one astute. At all. Althouse says: The [author’s term] "collective psyche" does not include the millions of people who actually love Trump and the millions more who enjoy or tolerate his style and like some or a lot of what he's doing. Personally, I don't like the idea of a "collective psyche.”

Nor do I. Trump just “is”, as Obama “was” and a whoie cadre of others “were” in their day. To me, he’s a guy who got elected. And someone whose service in the office of POTUS is just another interlude in the hodge podge of our country’s so-called “leaders” who ususally aren’t really, outside their own minds and egos. Meanwhile, we abide. Most everyone had best just shut up and watch, or think and or comment softly into the wind, for all the difference our voices would make.

Regarding the collective psyche, then. A "collective psyche" regarding things that are subjective by nature (opinions and such) seems possible only through persistent brainwashing, with punishment for those who don’t go along with what they “should” believe or profess. Punishment can be as mild as ostracism or prosecution for some made up charge, or harassment, or even physical and/or emotional attacks. We are seeing it all at the hands of the self-professed and self-deluding “reasonable” ones whose “way we should do it” has gotten us into innumerable messes for years and decades.

We’re in a kind of civil war now with “collective psyche” troops up in arms and sounding the battle cry. The “others” are more of a rag tag bunch, using their wits and flexibility.to an advantage. I try to be one. We’ll survive. They’ll go down like dominos eventually. They have their vision of nirvana, a world without Trump. We have our own (hardly collective!) thoughts about what changes we think would be good for the country, no matter who happens to be in the White House. Some of it will catch on and some will be kicked down the road for future influencers of events( and happenstance).

So how do some continue to think, observe, analyze, accept/reject, and find their own way outside the “collective psyche”. Personally, I think it’s done by their choosing to thrive in the gray areas, to force themselves to be accountable for balance in their lives … AND to avoid drifting or jumping over into some other collective psyche that insists on strenuously taking the opposite views (opposite from the Glasser "collectivce psyche"), across the board.

Taking it into the Trump sphere, I most respect and value those who can distinguish between style and substance, words and deeds, strategies (or lack thereof) and results achieved, crudeness and determination, and those who know from living life with their eyes wide open that one does not need to like or respect someone like Trump on a personal level to acknowledge that he/she has a way of getting things accomplished around, over, or right through with the “collective psyche” membership.

My expectations about the Trump presidency were not that far off, except in one respect. That is, I thought that by now he would be worn down and beaten up enough to just say, “To Hell with all this BS, I’m out". Instead he seems to be relishing his term and moving ungraciously through the china shop. If he has a “grand plan”, it resides in his gut and he doesn’t make excuses about the inelegance of it all. “Mush On” should be his mantra, as it is mine.