He may not have won the election but he appears to have won the attack on the quality of our humanity. Who will be left to wash our mouths out? What are we teaching our children about assertiveness versus aggression, or the ability to manage our anger and…yes, nastiness? Who can be the cleverest with personal invectives? “Do as I say, not as I do” cannot be asserted any more, because we’re not even endorsing politeness by example.

He has taught us how to fight dirty, and dragged much of our culture down with him, both Republicans and Democrats, and with it fed paranoia. It’s a competition of who can be most degrading. Being empathic does not mean condoning dangerous, destructive, illogical or spiteful behavior. Can we no longer model intelligence without invective? I don’t mean to preach, but Gee Whiz, guys!

Two books I still honor from the past are Your Perfect Right: A Guide to Assertive Living by Robert Alberti and Michael L. Emmons and When Anger Hurts: Quieting the Storm Within by Matthew McKay. Personally I prefer Thriftbooks.com for the goldie oldies.